


Cult of Personality

by Gears112 (orphan_account), phantomthief_fee



Series: Drew World [7]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: And real creepy, Child Death Mentioned, Childhood Trauma, Demons, Gen, Multi, Religious Cults, Things are gonna get real weird, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-02-29 21:13:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 34,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Gears112, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: Joshua's been kidnapped by a cult bent on using his power for their own gains and Henry is on the warpath. But who is this cult? And what are their true intentions involving the inhabitants of Drew World?





	1. Chapter 1

Alistair didn’t like children. He never had and he never would. They were loud and **_leaked_** and you couldn’t reason with them in the slightest. But now, for some reason, he was babysitting the little brat who could astral project. He was tempted to tell her that it was her fault that Joshua had been taken, but the look Lacie, Murray, and Bertram were giving him told him exactly how that option would pan out. Murray had contacted Selene while Bertram and Lacie tried desperately to get a hold of Chris. Which left Alistair to watch Ruby. He wasn’t happy about it, as he’d told everyone who would listen. Ruby, to her credit, seemed rather unphased by this. She was giving him a rather stern look, but she didn’t seem upset.

“Why are you glaring at me like that?” He finally asked, growing rather irritated.

“You’re being really mean.” She replied, folding her arms.

“Yes, well, I’m not a very nice person.” He gave her a tight smile.

“That doesn’t mean you get to be rude to everybody.” Ruby’s frown deepened. “Daddy says that everyone deserves to be treated with respect, even if you don’t like them.”

“Don’t tell me you actually believe that.” Alistair rolled his eyes. “No one ever actually treats everyone they meet with respect. I’d be out of a job if they did.” He paused for a moment. “I guess I’m out of a job anyway.”

“Nobody wants to be around someone who’s mean to everybody all the time,” Ruby said, poking him in the chest. “You can’t make friends like that.”

“What do you know? You’re a child.”

“I know **I** don’t want to be around somebody who’s mean all the time.” Ruby gave him an incredulous look. “Mr. Murray would probably like you more if you were nicer.”

“He likes me!” Alistair felt his temper flare. “We shared a body! We’re very close!” Ruby blinked, then tilted her head to the side.

“I don’t know what that means.”

Alistair stared at him for a moment or two before sighing. “…Nevermind. Why do you think Murray doesn’t like me?”

“He **does** like you.” Ruby corrected him. “I just think he’s kinda disappointed.”

“Disappointed?” Alistair tried to suppress the incredulity creeping into his voice. “Really?”

“Mm-hm.” Ruby nodded. “He has the same look that Daddy gets when he tells me he’s not mad, he’s just disappointed.”

“Why would he be disappointed in me?” Alistair let out a short barking laugh, slapping his knee with his free hand. “He knew what he was getting into with me!”

Ruby shrugged. “I don’t think you’re very nice. Maybe he doesn’t think you’re very nice either.”

“He **knew** what he was getting into,” Alistair repeated through gritted teeth. “He knows what I am- was. Whatever! He knew!”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t want someone to be better,” Ruby said. “Uncle Joshy and Miss Nancy always get really mad Mr. Sammy is such a butt-face about Uncle Joshy being with Miss Dee, but they’re still kinda hoping he gets better about it.” She paused, looking up at him innocently. “I think Mr. Murray likes you a lot. But he doesn’t like being around you when you’re mean to everybody.”

He knew she was right. God, he knew she was right. But he couldn’t just admit that. Not when Murray and those other two could hear him. This was a child! He couldn’t admit he was wrong in front of a child!

“Do you like Mr. Murray?” Ruby poked his cheek.

“I like him more than I like other people.” He swatted her hand away.

“But do you _like_ him?” Ruby’s expression turned to one of determination. “You gotta use your words.”

“I’m not playing this game,” Alistair grumbled, ready to boot her off his lap.

“You look at him like you like him. Like Miss Allison does with Mr. Dave.” Ruby said. “Or Mr. Piedimen looks at Ms-Lacie-Just Lacie.”

“What on Earth is that supposed to mean?” Alistair demanded, finding to his horror that his face was beginning to feel warm. No doubt his cheeks were turning red. Dammit! Why did humans have to be so emotional?! Ruby stared at him for a moment, then smiled wide. It was a mischievous expression, one Alistair had worn on his own face quite often.

“You love him~”

“Alright, that’s quite enough.” Alistair scooped her up and put her on the ground. “Go bother someone else. I’m done.”

“No!” Ruby planted her feet shoulder width apart, placing her hands on her hips. “Daddy says it’s bad to bottle up your feelings!” Alistair glanced over at Murray. To most everyone, it appeared Murray was on the phone with his sister. But Alistair could tell that Murray was just pretending to be on the phone. That little shit could have come over at any time, but he was just letting this girl walk all over Alistair!

“Why don’t you go bother Murray?” Alistair nudged Ruby with his foot. “I don’t think he’s doing anything.” Ruby looked back at Murray, who had turned away and was talking louder now.

“He’s busy.” She said, looking back at Alistair.

“No, he’s not! He’s pretending!”

“You can’t hide from your feelings forever!”

“Yes, I can!” Alistair then got up and started running. He wasn’t sure why he was doing this. His first instinct had been to teleport away. But he couldn’t teleport anymore. So he was going to run. Unfortunately, he wasn’t used to running, so he didn’t get far before Ruby jumped on him.

Bertram and Lacie watched as Ruby pinned Alistair to the ground and yelled at him to accept his feelings. Murray had his eyes closed, quietly whispering prayers to whatever gods he could think of. He really shouldn’t have been surprised that it had ended this way. Strip away all of Alistair’s power and lethality and he was essentially a petulant child.

“Well, erm…That’s…Interesting.” Bertram said slowly.

“Your boyfriend’s a strange one, isn’t he?” Lacie snorted, letting a smile cross her features.

“He’s not my-” Murray started to say, then sighed and shook his head. “Alright, maybe he’s my boyfriend. Gods know I’m responsible for him now.” Alistair was trying to slap Ruby now, although it wasn’t a real slap. It was more one of those silly kid slappy fights. Ruby was pulling on his hair now.

“Christopher should be along soon to take her home.” Bertram cleared his throat. “I imagine he’ll be glad to get her away from that…thing.” His nose wrinkled a bit as he stared at Alistair. As far as he could tell, the demon was powerless now. But he wasn’t any less wary.

“He can’t hurt you anymore,” Murray said, trying to be comforting. “At least, not magically.” Judging from Bertram’s appearance, though, Alistair couldn’t hurt him physically either. Bertram certainly looked like someone who did his own mechanical work. Alistair wasn’t too good at physical combat. Even less so now that he had no supernatural strength.

“He’s still a shifty looking fucker.” Lacie crossed her arms, moving to stand closer to Bertram. “You know, he’s got a face like a rat.” Murray snorting, trying to stifle the laughter bubbling up.

“He, uh, he kinda does.” He admitted through giggles. Alistair did have a face reminiscent of a rat, although it had been a far kinder and more approachable face before the possession by the demon currently bound to the body.

They stood there for a few minutes, watching as Ruby terrorized the former demon, demanding he admit his feelings.

“How do you think Chris’ll react to learning his daughter can astral project?” Lacie asked.

“Not…well, I imagine.” Murray instinctively winced. “Although, I’m not surprised. People with magic tend to flock together.”

“I hope for her sake that she does not find out she was responsible for Foster’s abduction.” Bertram lowered his voice, his expression grim. “She would be devastated.”

“…Yeah.” Murray nodded, rubbing the scars on his palms. She couldn’t know. None of them could tell her.

.

Henry wasn’t exactly in the best of moods. Stella had managed to track the cult to a house on the outskirts of the city. It was, by all means, an ordinary looking house. There was nothing to suggest that it was the home of a cult that had kidnapped his son. Stella could feel the magic radiating off the building, though. Some strong wards had been set up, making it hard to detect the magic, but it was very clearly there.

“Alright. We need to be careful about this.” Stella said as they stood across the street. “We don’t know what these people are capable of.” She’d put away the tracking spell components and was crafting another one, this one presumably for stealth.

“We should probably wait for backup.” She suggested.

“No.”

“No?” Stella looked up. Henry had stayed beside her, but he looked about ready to set off.

“I don’t want him spending any longer in there than he needs to.” Henry’s voice was calm, yet Stella could sense the storm brewing beneath that level tone.

“I’m not losing him too.” Henry almost seemed to choke up a bit at this. He’d lost Linda and Maria, he wasn’t going to lose Joshua as well. He touched his wedding ring, more out of habit than anything else. Maria had always been so protective of Joshua, as though he were her son. Joshua had practically been a part of his family.

“Losing him was never an outcome I was going to allow.” Stella finished putting together the spell. “Stay near me. The spell’s got a limited range.” Henry nodded.

Glancing over at him, Stella had to stifle a shiver. Something was terrifying about him when he was like this. His eyes were cold, burning with an unnatural light. She wondered if he’d once been a soldier. He was certainly carrying himself like one. She turned her attention away from Henry, focusing on the house layout. Now that they were inside, it no longer looked ordinary. There were strange markings on the walls, charms hung up on nails, and paintings that chilled Stella to her very soul. She recognized the components of some of the charms and markings. The charms and sigils were supposed to ward against danger or hide the wearer from other magic users. Quite a few of them, though, she wasn’t sure of their purpose. She knew what the components were supposed to be, but not what they were supposed to be as a whole. There were pieces of warding charms, sigils for luck and prosperity, a few parts of summoning circles.

“What the fuck are these even supposed to be?” Stella muttered, touching one of the charms. Then one of the doors opened and she jumped back, staying close to Henry as some giggling cultists in robes entered the hall.

“I still can’t believe it.” One said to another. “A real Creator! In our sanctuary!”

“My mother always said they were a myth. Shows what she knows.” The other snickered.

“Imagine the kinds of things we could accomplish with his power!”

“Truly, our master is wise for keeping an eye on him.”

Henry’s hands formed into fists at his sides, his lips curling back in a snarl. He looked about to step out of the protective bubble Stella had set up, but she pulled him back as a new person entered the hallway.

“Sir!” The cultists immediately stood up straighter after hastily bowing. The newcomer, who was presumably the leader, was taller than the other cultists. His robe had a few adornments to it, and generally looked nicer than the ones the other two were wearing. His face was obscured, but Henry recognized his voice when he spoke.

“There’s something I need you to look into.” He said.

“Of course, sir!” The cultists nodded eagerly. “What is it?”

“A little girl managed to astral project here earlier and I’d like for you to see if you can locate her.”

The cultists nodded once more, turning to leave before their leader stopped them.

“Do not under any circumstances engage her.” He warned them. “Just find out who she is and where she lives. I think I’d like to talk to her at a later date.”

“Of course, sir.” They bowed their heads, almost ashamed, and left quickly. They discarded their robes before they left the house, revealing themselves to be younger than either Henry or Stella had expected them to be. Gods, they didn’t look much older than 18. The man that Stella assumed was the leader watched his subordinates go, then turned to look straight at Stella and Henry with a smile.

“Hello, Miss Hill, Mr. Ross. I’ve been expecting you.”


	2. Chapter 2

....

“ _ **You!**_ ” Stella tightened her grip on Henry, who looked ready to leap out of the protective bubble and strangle the man. “Where is he!?” The leader chuckled bemusedly, not at all phased by Henry’s anger. “Where is my son?!

“Such strong emotions for a boy who isn’t your flesh and blood.” The man teased before turning to Stella. “And to answer your unasked question, Miss Hill, of course I would be expecting you two; my followers weren’t exactly the most subtle of individuals after all.” Stella frowned as the man smiled mischievously. “But that can be forgiven since Joshua is _finally_ where he belongs.” Henry growled, narrowing his eyes

“You let my son go or so help me-”

“Mr. Ross, you are aware that you have no magic and the moment you step out of the barrier you will be even more outnumbered than you are already.” The man smirked, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “But please, don’t let me or Miss Hill hold you back from your stupidity; you’ve clearly learned nothing since our last meeting _Henry_.”

.

* * *

.

“So what’s so important that I had to rush over here?” Chris asked as he hugged his daughter when he came into the office.

“Your brat can astral project.” Alistair said simply, earning a punch on the shoulder from Murray. “Ow! What was that for-”

“W-What?” Chris asked slowly as he stood up, holding his daughter’s hand.

“Astral Projection.” Alistair growled. “Your brat can project herself a number of places. Includ-”

“You do know your daughter is magic...right?” Murray said quickly, glaring at Alistair for almost spilling that truth. Chris rubbed the back of his head.

“I mean yeah, her mother is part of the magical community or whatever, but Rosanna said the genetics skip so Ruby’s not going to have any magical talent...that’s kinda why she’s with me most of the time anyways; the magic community’s not exactly subtle about their feelings on those that can’t do magic and Rosanna wants to make sure that Ruby doesn’t get any flack, especially from her grandparents, even if they mean well enough.” Murray paused, his thoughts going back to his younger sister and her relationship with their parents and those in the magical community.

“Well surprise, she does.” Alistair snarked before looking at Ruby. “Why don’t you tell your ‘daddy’ about the little stunts you’ve pulled, hmm?” Ruby didn’t bat an eyelash.

“Not until you tell Mr. Murray you love him.” Alistair’s face flushed as Murray was pulled out of his thoughts, going a shade of red as Bertie and Lacie covered their reactions.

“Ruby, baby, cut the poor guy some slack ok?” Ruby made a face. “He’s probably too embarrassed to do it in front of an audience.” Lacie snorted as Bertram smirked as Alistair went a rather interesting shade of embarrassed red as Chris winked at his daughter.

“Oooooh….ok…”

“Is there a reason you two gentlemen are trying to lockpick in broad daylight?” Selene’s voice came clear from outside the office.

“Uh...We wanted to check out the office?”

“Y-Yeah, you know, Mr. Drew hasn’t been seen, and we figured why not check his office and see if he’s hiding in there?” The teenagers chuckled nervously before there was a small yelp from one of them. “H-Hey! Put me down!”

“I thought you two wanted to go into his office.” The door opened and the two punks were ungracefully chucked in as Selene casually entered followed by Alexander. “Thank you Mr. Meadows.” Alistair rolled his eyes in annoyance as the boys realized that they weren’t the only two in there.

“Aw fu...dge…” One of them said as they saw the group of adults, and toddler, stare at them.

“We’re in so much trouble…”

“If you’re not willing to cooperate then yes.” Selene said patronizingly, patting one of their heads before seeing Ruby. “Oh, you must be Ruby! Mr. Hill was telling me all about you sweetheart.” Ruby blushed and hid behind her father, giggling. She chuckled before turning to the teenagers. “Now, unless you want to demonstrate truth telling spells, I suggest you two boys start talking.”

“We wanted to get in his office.” One of the teens said. “He’s obviously got connections to the magic community so we figured this was the place to start.”

“Start what?” Alexander asked and the boys kept their mouth shut. Alexander frowned but Selene stopped him before he could utter the truth telling spell.

“Don’t waste your energy. They can keep quiet all they want; Mr. Kalagin can motivate them to start talking when he arrives.” Murray watched the boys’ eyes widened, one of them gulping nervously and Selene chuckled, no doubt reading their minds as they were internally panicking with the thought of facing the vampire. She made a face and crossed her arms as the two squirmed.

“Ms. Castelia?” Alexander asked slowly.

“These _gentlemen_ were sent to find the child who could astral project.” Chris squeezed his daughter’s hand tighter as Lacie stepped in front of the toddler. “I suppose you boys assumed that Mr. Drew had information on members of the magic community?”

“I mean it is a hotspot considering the living toons and whatnot…” One of the boys muttered. “It’s a safe bet to figure he’d know…”

“That is an assumption on Drew’s organizational skills that is sadly incorrect.” Bertram pointed out, earning a pair of glares. Selene sighed, shaking her head.

“We need to go about this strategically…”

“He just wishes to speak to the little one,” One of the teens offered. “I mean Astral Projection is one of those things that even experts have trouble with so a little kid being able-,”

“Uh huh, yeah, I’m sure he just wants to talk.” Lacie said, voice dripping sarcasm before looking at Selene. “What do you want to do with these morons? I’m not thinking they’re smart enough to tell you how to get to wherever their boss is.”

“Hey!”

“I’m not babysitting them.” Alistair said quickly, earning an eyebrow raise from Selene before she shook her head.

“I want to wait until Daniel arrives before we handle their leader. We cannot go into this recklessly.” She turned to Murray. “Your sister should be fine, Murray; she understands the danger and will be careful.”

“I think me and Ruby should head home then…” Chris said slowly feeling very much out of the loop. “We’ll...um...be in touch I guess.” He picked up his daughter as Selene nodded. Bertie went along with the two as they left the office.

“You think that’s the girl he was talking abo-OW!” The teen asked before his partner smacked him upside the head.

“Shut up idiot!”

“Hey!”

“Enough you two.” Alexander warned. “You two are in enough trouble as it is. You’re lucky that the owner of the park isn’t here or you’d both be pressed with trespassing charges.”

“At least we’d finally be able to meet Mr. Drew…” The teen that got smacked mumbled and Selene rolled her eyes.

“How about instead of arguing, how about you two start explaining where Joshua is and why he was kidnapped?” Lacie said sternly.

“How about you get out of my face bitch?” One of the teens snapped back and Lacie looked at Selene who shrugged absently, conveniently turning her head to look at the posters on the wall. Alistair snickered.

“This will certainly be entertaining at least…” He mused as Lacie picked up the boys by the collar, no doubt about to work the boys ragged in a lesson of humility.

.

* * *

 

.

“Oh hey guys, what’s up?” Chris asked as he, Ruby, and Bertie were making their way out of the park, running into Roy and Cordelia, who were on their way in.

“Well, I was going to see if Henry was here and ask him if he knew where Joshy was,” Cordelia chuckled nervously. “He didn’t come home last night, so I was wondering if Joey accidently ran him ragged and he crashed here,” She chuckled nervously as Bertie and Chris exchanged looks.

“Oh, Uncle Joshy’s not here!” Ruby said. “He’s trying to take a nap in a room by himself!” Cordelia looked at the toddler in confusion.

“A room by himself?” Ruby nodded, giggling.

“Uh-Huh! There’s a bunch of robey people there arguing when I was there so I don’t know if he was able to nap well.”

“Robe….people…” Cordelia was paling as the toddler spoke.

“Those cult people that demon was talking about…” Roy muttered aloud, paling. “They got Joshua…”

“What do you mean Mr. Roy?” Ruby asked slowly, concern obvious on her face. “Uncle Joshy’s ok...right?”

“Of course, Ruby, he’s fine,” Bertie said quickly. “He’s too stubborn to be otherwise, especially if Sammy’s stories about him are anything to go by,” The girl couldn’t help but giggle. “I’ll take Roy and Cordelia back to Henry’s office and we’ll get it sorted out, while you and your father enjoy the rest of your evening, ok?” Ruby nodded slowly.

“Ok…Bye bye Bertie!” She said, waving to them as Chris thanked Bertram before heading off with his daughter. Once they were out of sight, Bertie sighed and shot Roy a look.

“Seriously?” Roy returned the look with one of his own before he sighed softly.

“I didn’t know…” Bertie smiled gently.

“I understand, Roy, I do, just be careful;” He said, leading the way. “Murray’s thinking that one of her astral projection-whatevers tipped off the cult to Joshua…”

“How?” Cordelia asked slowly and Bertie smiled softly.

“She’s a friendly innocent little girl.” He said. “It’s likely that she didn’t know any better and whoever asked the right questions if they saw her…” Roy and Cordelia couldn’t help but smile before their faces fell. “But we’ll worry about that later. We’re going to get Joshua back now.”

“You’re being surprisingly optimistic…” Roy retorted and Bertie shrugged, smirking slightly.

“I’m just a man of surprises, Mr. Bell. A man of many surprises.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This does get kind of dark.

Cordelia’s anxiety had been getting better since she’d stopped working for Joey Drew. She hadn’t encountered any murderous ink creatures, hadn’t almost been sacrificed, hadn’t had anyone close to her face serious bodily harm. She’d thought things were getting better. Then a demon had shown up and declared that her boyfriend happened to be magic. There had been mentions of cults, but she’d tried to assure herself that everything would be fine. There was no way Henry would let a cult take his son away. But, somehow, it had happened all the same. She didn’t know much about cults other than what she’d learned from books. She hadn’t ever expected to encounter one. It just didn’t seem like something that happened in real life. Of course, she’d worked for Joey Drew, so she’d _practically_ been in a cult. She wasn’t even really paying attention as her brother led her behind Bertram. The only thing she could hear was her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Slowly, as she walked, her fear began to fade. It was replaced by a wave of boiling anger. She was fed up with all this bullshit! Once they were inside the office and the door was closed, she started screaming at the top of her lungs and kicking a filing cabinet.

“Good Lord.” Bertram took a step back.

“I was wondering when this would happen,” Roy said. “Don’t worry, she’s fine. She’s just gotta get her anger out.”

“I am so sick of this!” Cordelia screamed, pounding her fists against the metal of the cabinet. “Is it too much to ask to have one month where some weird magic doesn’t fuck everything up?!”

“Does this happen often?” Bertram asked, shuffling behind Roy a bit.

“Only if she bottles up her feelings.” Roy shrugged. “All she needs is a good scream.”

It took a few minutes for Cordelia to vent all of the frustration that had been building up. Once she was finished, she took a deep breath, dusted herself off, and turned back to Roy and Bertram.

“Okay. I feel better now.” She said, although she was still a bit red in the face.

“Good. Probably be good if you exploded while we were sneaking into a cult house or whatever.” Roy smiled slightly. Cordelia rolled her eyes, muttering something and swatting at his shoulder.

“I…I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Bertram managed a slightly confused smile. He honestly had never expected that amount of anger and vitriol to come out of someone so small and cute.

“So, what surprises do you have in store for us?” Roy asked, turning his attention back to Bertram. “Don’t tell me you’re some kind of magic person too.”

“Oh Heavens no.” Bertram shook his head. “My family have no magical powers. However, my maternal grandmother did happen to be a hedge witch.”

“A…hedge witch?” Cordelia’s eyes narrowed.

“They’re a variety of witch who mostly practices in herbs,” Bertram explained. “She was…Actually, have either of you read the works of Terry Pratchett?”

“Oh! Yes!” Cordelia’s face lit up. “I love those books!”

“Excellent.” Bertram’s smile softened. “She was rather like that, although she lacked any actual magic. Her greatest power, in all honesty, was her common sense.”

“So, your common sense powers are going to save Joshua?” Roy was fighting to stop himself from smirking. “ ** _You_**?” He hadn’t seen any of Bertram’s escapades, but he’d certainly heard talk of them.

“Joey’s arrogance brought out the worst in me,” Bertram said, his cheeks beginning to turn red. “I am normally a very levelheaded man.”

“Well, I’m open to suggestion.” Roy sat down on top of the desk. “Especially since Dee’s plan probably involves just charging in with a knife.”

“That’s not what I was going to do!” Cordelia snapped, although her reddening cheeks told a different story.

“I feel as though I don’t need to say that charging in with a knife is not a good plan,” Bertram said. “There are quite a lot of them and they are also probably armed.”

“I wasn’t going to charge in with a knife!”

“Hey, Bertie, I’ve got the little asswipes talking.” Lacie poked her head in, her expression changing to one of surprise when she saw Roy and Cordelia were with Bertram.

“What little asswipes?” A cold light entered Cordelia’s eyes. “Are they from the cult?”

“Dee, whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t.” Roy caught his sister by the shoulder as she tried to make for the door.

“They took him.” Cordelia’s voice was low, holding more malice than either Bertram or Lacie had heard in it before. Before, her anger had burned white hot, but now it was cold. Cold and calm like the dead of winter creeping in to claim all those who stood in her way. Lacie looked over at Bertram, who smiled apologetically. For a moment, they all stood there in silence. Finally, Lacie spoke.

“Come on.” She gestured for them to follow her.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let her near them?” Bertram whispered to Lacie as Cordelia and Roy exited the office.

“I’m not going to let her actually hurt them,” Lacie assured him. “But I’m pretty sure she can provide some kind of incentive to get them to tell us where the Foster kid is. You know what they say about a woman scorned.”

“Fair enough.” Bertram conceded.

Together, the four of them made their over to where Lacie had been “talking” with the cult members. It was a little maintenance shack where tools and the like were usually kept. It was still filled with tools, but space had been cleared in the center for the two cultists. They were tied up, back to back, their legs folded awkwardly to their chests in the cramped space.

“Someone wants to talk to you two.” Lacie smiled tightly as she opened the door to the shed. The cultists sneered at her, even as she stood aside to reveal Cordelia. Their sneers quickly turned to confusion. Then they started to laugh uproariously.

“Seriously?!” The older one was laughing so hard he almost couldn’t breathe. “You brought **_her_**?!”

“Do they know who I am?” Cordelia asked quietly.

“Sort of.” Lacie made a so-so motion with her hand. “They know you’re dating Joshua and that seems to be about it.”

“Alright.” Cordelia walked in, kneeling in front of the howling teenagers. In one fluid motion, she reached into the waistband of her skirt and pulled out a switchblade, holding it up to the faces of the cultists. Her whole body was visibly shaking as she held the blade. Roy had given it to her ages ago, but she’d never **actually** used it. The most she’d done was pull it out when a man had been harassing her.

“Oooh~ What’re you gonna do?” The smaller cultist jeered. “You gonna hurt us, little girl?” The fact that this boy was most definitely younger than her was lost neither on Cordelia nor the cultists.

“She probably faints at the sight of blood!” The older one sneered.

“Here we go.” Roy sighed, shaking his head. Cordelia’s eyes went hard and she rammed the switchblade into the older cultist’s leg. The laughter abruptly stopped, replaced by the two teenage boys screaming.

“YOU CRAZY BITCH!” The one who’d been stabbed yelled. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?!”

“Where is Joshua?” Cordelia asked. She was shaking harder now, likely from adrenaline.

“YOU FUCKING STABBED ME!”

“Where. Is. Joshua?” Cordelia repeated, hand on the handle of the switchblade.

“She’s probably going to do it again if you don’t answer her question.” Lacie folded her arms. “So I’d tell her what she wants to know.”

“Does she do this often?” Bertram whispered.

“Well, it’s the first time she’s stabbed someone,” Roy replied, grimacing. “She’s kicked a few kneecaps when she’s gotten mad enough. She doesn’t like people making fun of her.” It was honestly a little upsetting to see his baby sister stabbing someone. He’d always been the one to resort to violence. He couldn’t say how many times she’d bailed him out for getting in a fight he shouldn’t have. Seeing her stooping to this level…It left a bad taste in his mouth. He hadn’t thought she’d do it either. She probably wouldn’t have if the older boy hadn’t started taunting her. Speaking of him, he was still screaming about how crazy Cordelia was.

“STOP YELLING AT ME!” Cordelia shrieked, finally shutting the boy up. “I HAVE BEEN HAVING A SHITTY YEAR AND I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH THIS!” Her lip quivered as tears began to well up in her eyes. She sniffled loudly, trying to stem the tide of tears before they started to flow. Unfortunately, they were flowing anyway. Soon she was on her knees sobbing. Roy stepped in, kneeling beside her and gathering her in his arms. He wasn’t surprised she’d run the gauntlet of emotions. This was a lot to be going through. He gazed at the cultists over his sister’s shoulder, eyes narrowed and expression positively demonic. He reached over and yanked the knife out of the older boy’s leg, wiping it on the boy’s pants before tucking it into his pocket.

“Tell us where the kid is and I won’t let that weird little demon get creative with you.” He said.

“Weird little- You guys have a demon?!” The younger boy’s eyes widened and he looked at his compatriot. “Master didn’t say they had a demon!”

“Shut up! They don’t have a demon!” The older boy snapped, although there was fear in his eyes. Lacie and Bertram exchanged a glance. Alistair may have been stripped of his powers, but these boys didn’t know that.

“We don’t have a demon per se,” Bertram said. “But there is a demon on the premises. If he belongs to anyone, he belongs to Mr. Hill. I believe his name is Alistair?” The color drained out of the boys’ faces.

“Alistair…Ainsley?” The older boy squeaked.

“Pretty sure that’s his last name.” Lacie nodded. The boys went even paler, starting to struggle against their bonds.

“We’ll take you to Foster! We’ll take you to Foster, just don’t let him near us!” The older boy begged.

“Good.” Lacie smiled, walking in and getting the boys on their feet. “Let’s get going then.” She gave Bertram a knowing nod. Best to get out before Selene came found them. They both knew how she felt about non-magic users being involved. There was no way she’d let Cordelia and Roy be a part of any of this if she could help it. They could understand that she didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but the Bell siblings were already involved.

Cordelia was quiet as they made their way out of the park, careful to avoid Selene and Alexander. She was still sniffling a little but she’d mostly calmed down. Roy was keeping her close to him since he was still rather worried. She was just tired at this point. Having gone through so many emotions in a short period had left her drained.

“Why did you take him?” She asked after a few minutes. Both boys flinched, hunching their shoulders.

“I must admit, I am a bit curious as well,” Bertram said. “I know very little about Creators and their relation to the magical community.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re just a wannabe hedge witch.” The younger boy murmured under his breath.

“What was that?” Lacie’s eyes flashed with a dangerous light as she yanked on the rope binding the boys’ wrists.

“Nothing! He didn’t say anything!” The older boy quickly covered with a shaky smile.

“So why did you take Joshua?” Roy asked.

“Master…didn’t say…” The older boy admitted. “He said Foster belonged with us. That we were his home. But…Um…He didn’t say _why_ we were his home.”

“I’ve heard that some circles use the organs of Creators for certain spells. Or they consume them to increase their power.” Lacie said. Her expression was hard, her jaw clenched just a tad.

“What?!” Cordelia’s eyes widened. She could feel a panic attack coming on.

“Master wouldn’t do that!” The young boy insisted, although he didn’t quite sound sure.

“For your sake, you better hope he wouldn’t.” Roy smiled coolly. “Henry doesn’t take kindly to people harming his family.”

Speaking of Henry, he wasn’t exactly thinking clearly. He remembered this man. He’d never got the man’s name, but he remembered him. The cult leader removed his hood, revealing the face of a rather handsome man who looked to be in his mid-40’s. His hair was long and dark, tied back in a ponytail, and had a large white streak running through it. Linda had called the stranger ‘Skunk Man’ more than once. He had a short neat beard and a kind smile. But his eyes were cold, the eyes of an uncaring predator. They were purple, although Henry had never noticed this before.

“Henry, we need to leave.” Stella hissed. “Even if you **could** do magic, he’s right. We **are** outnumbered. We need to get out and wait for backup.”

“I’m not leaving Joshua with _him,_ ” Henry growled.

“I’m not going to hurt him.” The man laughed. “Really, you’re acting like I’m some kind of monster. I’m merely a mentor. Here to guide him and awaken his true power.”

“YOU KIDNAPPED HIM!” Stella had to hold Henry back once more. “HE DOESN’T WANT TO BE HERE! HE DOESN’T WANT YOU!” The man sighed, shaking his head as though he was witnessing the temper tantrum of a toddler.  

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” His smile was patronizing, the kind Stella had seen time and time again. “You’re not one of us. You don’t know the power that boy possesses. He could be a **_god_**.” There was a light in his eyes that made Stella distinctly uncomfortable. Gods, was this guy another one of those weirdos who wanted to take over the world?

Suddenly, the man stopped and began to laugh. “I just realized I never reintroduced myself. You probably don’t even remember my name anymore.”

“I don’t care what your fucking name is.” Henry spat.

“Let him talk,” Stella whispered. “If we get out of this, I can get him reported to the council.” Henry gave her a look that clearly said he didn’t want to let him talk, he wanted to beat this bastard’s face in, but he nevertheless stayed silent.

“My name is Gethin Hier.” The man bowed dramatically. “I would say it’s a pleasure, but it isn’t.”

Henry glanced over at Stella, mouthing, “That sound familiar?”

She shook her head, mouthing back, “Never heard of him.”

“You know, it’s rude to talk behind someone’s back.” Gethin’s smile twitched slightly, irritation flashing across his features. Henry said something rude and made a rude gesture.

“Oh, Mr. Ross.” Gethin shook his head and clicked his tongue. “Joshua truly is lucky I managed to find him again. I can’t imagine how much damage you’ve done to him.”

“What are you going to do to him?” Stella asked, getting between Henry and the cult leader so that Henry wouldn’t spring out and try to strangle him.

“I’m not going to **do** anything to him, Miss Hill.” Gethin’s smile returned. “I’m simply going to guide him and teach him all he needs to know about his powers. He needs to understand how special he is. He’s not like the rest of the rabble.” His eyes were lighting up again with manic glee.

“He will be a god.” Gethin’s smile was unnaturally wide now. Stella swallowed instinctively, taking a step back. There was a lump developing in her stomach. Her parents had talked about these kinds of people, but she’d never personally encountered someone like this before. This was so far out of her depth. She didn’t deal with assholes who wanted to take over the world!

Before she could find the words to reply to this maniac, though, Henry was surging past her. In an instant, he had the cult leader on the ground and a knife against his neck. She didn’t even know where he’d gotten a knife!

“Gods require sacrifices, don’t they?” Henry asked, his voice chillingly calm. “Let’s have you be the first one.”

“Henry, don’t-” Stella reached out to try and stop him, but Henry was already pressing the knife deep into the flesh of Gethin’s neck.

“Love requires sacrifice,” Henry said as the blood spurted onto his face. “Can I get an amen?”


	4. Chapter 4

….

Stella was horrified as she found herself frozen, staring at Henry as he had the knife still in Gethin’s neck, pushing the blade deeper. Despite the fact he did have a knife in his neck and his blood splattering Henry’s face, Gethin was still smiling as if this was a normal situation. The cultist’s head slumped to the side and the man’s manic smile seemed to grow widely as he chuckled, choking on his blood.

“What’s so funny?!” Henry demanded before following the man’s gaze and paled; very faintly and only for a brief moment, he could see the form of a small child standing and staring at him in horror, tears welling up in her eyes as she stepped back. Stella’s eyes widened as she saw the child before the figure vanished. “H-How...that…” He turned to Stella in confusion, Stella realizing that Henry didn’t know the truth before she gasped, the body of Gethin melting into the ground.

“That wasn’t-” Stella barely managed out before the front door slammed open and Roy, Cordelia, Lacie, Bertie, and the two teenagers busted in, seeing Henry covered in blood and Stella looking horrified.

.

* * *

 

.

_“Ah, Mr. Foster, do you have a-” Jonathan Foster sighed._

_“Look, now’s not a good time, Mr. Hier,” He said. “I’m watching both Joshy and Linda and they’re-” There was a crash of bowls and Linda yelling that they were ok. The other man chuckled lightly. “They’re trying to destroy the kitchen right now…maybe you have a business card or something I can call later?” Gethin’s eyes widened slightly as his smile grew; he was potentially getting through!_

_“Of course, of course!” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a business card. He handed it to Jonathan who took it and looked at it momentarily, nodding._

_“Cool, I’ll contact you once I get a breather and talk to my wife.” At Gethin’s brief eyebrow raise, Jonathan chuckled. “You know what they say, happy wife, happy life.”_

_“Ah! Yes, yes, of course.” Gethin kept his smile, internally groaning at the prospect of the Creator not unlocking his full potential at the whim of a mere mortal, but Gethin figured that since the head of the household was now at least humoring him, it wouldn’t be long before Joshua was where he belonged. “I look forward to your call.” Jonathan nodded and closed the door on Gethin. He paused as he glanced inside the home and saw Joshua showing his dad whatever he created with the girl. Gethin made a face at the thought of the boisterous brat before shaking his head and heading off back to the base to wait and plan for the phone call._

.

* * *

 

.

“Shh, shh, it’s ok baby…” Chris said, bouncing the toddler gently in his arms as she was in hysterics. “It was just a nightmare…Nothing’s gonna get you baby...” He bit back his nerves; he was walking out of the park, Ruby dozing off in his arms when she had suddenly bolted awake, screaming and crying loudly. “Just a bad dream, nothing’s gonna get you,” Ruby was still crying and hyperventilating, everything she was saying mostly unintelligible, and Chris was understably concerned. “Baby, come on, deep breaths, come on. I promise, you’re ok sweetheart,”

“Sir, do you need some help?” Chris turned to see a pink haired woman next to him and he nodded nervously. The woman smiled knowingly and uttered a spell and within moments, Ruby stopped crying and leaned against her father, clutching his shirt as she fell asleep, breathing deeply. “A small sleeping cantation, just something to calm her down and relax before she gets an actual nap...”

“W-Whoa…um, wow…” Chris said admittedly; sure he knew about the magic and spells and stuff, but to actually see it in action was still something extremely impressive. “Thanks…”

“Not a problem,” She said, smiling. “Is she usually fussy before her nap?”

“Usually not, but she just got upset and crying all of a sudden...I’m thinking it might be a nightmare, but I’m not sure what…Oh! Chris, I’m Chris” The woman’s eyes widened.

“Oh! You’re Rosanna’s friend! Ruby’s other dad!” She laughed. “I knew you looked familiar.” Chris chuckled. “I’m Cass, Rosanna and I used to go to school together.”

“Oh yeah, Rosanna’s mentioned you a few times,” Chris said. “What brings you to Drew World or well, the parking lot of the place?” Cass shrugged absently.

“Technically work stuff. Boring legal stuff in all honesty. I decided to walk since my brother-in-law drives like a bat out of hell.” The two shared a chuckle before Chris rubbed the back of his head.

“Henry’s out of the office, and nobody’s seen Joey since the first day, so I don’t think you’d get much-”

“Oh, I’ve seen Joey already. He’s a bit...preoccupied.” She said simply. “I’m sure that in a few weeks, he’ll be back to running around and whatever.”

“You mean, after Joshua gets rescued.” Cass was startled and Chris shrugged. “I got the abbreviated version from Ms. Castelia, and the two punks that broke in...and well...Ruby said she saw Josh in a room by himself…”

“How?” Chris shrugged.

“Apparently she can astral project but nobody really bothered to explain to me how that works.” Cass made a face.

“Explains the phone calls…” Cass muttered before pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment. “I work with Ms. Castelia on this case and Ms. Ruby’s certainly part of it…She’s not in trouble Chris, please calm down!” She couldn’t help but laugh at the man’s face. “It’s not everyday you hear about a child managing that kind of magic accidently….wait…” She paused, paling slightly. “Did she say anything about the nightmare?” Chris shrugged.

“She was too upset to make coherent words...I might’ve hear something like ‘Henry’ but that’s stretching it…” Cass nodded slowly. “What are you thinking?”

“She might’ve saw something that scared her when she was projecting, but I can’t say for sure…” Cass sighed sadly. “She will be fine though,” She smiled quickly at Chris’s concern. “I am a professional healer after all.” Chris chuckled slightly, admittedly not entirely convinced.

“Yeah, yeah, I figured, but this is a lot, you know?” He admitted quietly. “I thought the worst stuff would be dealing with the smart ass comments about be a ‘mere mortal’ and since I can’t summon a fireball or whatever, I’m obviously out of my league in all departments, including raising my daughter.” He rolled his eyes and Cass nodded.

“I feel ya, trust me, the shit I got when me and my wife got married…they were more upset she was related to a vampire, than her being, well, her.”

“But of course,” Chris chuckled. “Your new family could drive you batty.” She gave the man a lidded look as Chris snickered as Cass’s phone rang.

“Excuse me…” She said before answering it. “Hello? Selene? What-You’re kidding me...Murray and Ainsley are still there tho-Tell that asshole he’s not as quiet as he thinks he is.” Chris chuckled slightly as Cass listened to the former demon cursing her out more than likely before she spoke up again. “Alright, should I try and stop them? If they got out of the park then I might be able to still track...yes, Chris and Ruby are here still...both are fine, Ruby had a nightmare but she is now ok….Gimme a sec…” She turned to Chris. “Selene wants to know if you are ok with returning to the park and allowing Ruby to be interviewed with Selene and David?” Chris nodded.

“Of course, Joshua is my friend; whatever helps him out, we gotta try…” Cass smiled gently, nodding.

“Follow me then,”

.

* * *

 

.

“Is there anything I can get you Joshua?” Joshua rolled his eyes.

“Obviously you’re not going to just let me go and walk out of here.” The man chuckled as he sat across from Joshua, calmly and casually sitting across from the boy.

“Well, no, I’m going to do that.” He chuckled brightly, as if this was normal conversation. “I can’t really have a productive conversation with you if you’re not here.” Joshua made a face.

“I’m not interested in whatever you’re selling.”

“I am not selling anything, Joshua, you know that.” The man kept his smile up. “I am here to help you awaken your true potential. I care about you Joshua and I want to help you.”

“Because kidnapping me is the obvious way of showing you care.” The man rolled his eyes.

“A minor...miscommunication, that’s all it was, you weren’t actual in harm’s way.” Joshua blinked, clearly not buying that and the man made a face. “You’ve certainly gained a bit of edge since we’ve last met.”

“Gee I wonder why.” Joshua snarked and the man rubbed the bridge of his nose, pausing and making a face as if he sensed something.

“I should’ve known he wouldn’t make it easy.” The man sighed. “And here I thought we could talk without any interruptions.” He shook his head and stood up. “I will be right back Joshua. I would take a few moments to understand how _truly_ special you are, and why you belong with us.” The man left the room, leaving Joshua alone in the room with his thoughts. The young man sighed as he looked around the room, trying to figure out how to get out or at least free his hands from their binds.

“Maybe if I had a pocket kni…” Joshua started to say before he paled, feeling the weight of a small pocket knife in his hand. A wave of nausea surged over Joshua as he tried to keep himself calm and to keep himself from blacking out, though he was understandably overwhelmed by the fact he just created an object out of _nothing_. “H-Holy shi…no...” Joshua shook his head as he tightened his grip on the the object. “Freak out later...I’ll freak out later…” He took a deep breath, centering himself before getting to work on cutting through the bonds; he was going to get out of this madhouse.

One way or another.


	5. Chapter 5

....

“Hello again Ruby,” Selene said gently as the toddler rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

“I thought we’re going home…” Ruby asked in confusion and Chris smiled gently.

“Something came up Sweetpea,” he said softly. “These guys wanted to ask you a few questions, so we can help Joshy get out of that room you’ve been seeing him in.” Ruby nodded though she looked hesitant as Chris held her in his arms. “It’s gonna be ok,”

“Can you tell us some more about the place you saw Mr. Foster?” It took some coaching and some slow encouragement but eventually Ruby told Selene and Daniel about what she had seen, including her nightmare. Chris looked like he was about to be sick and Murray frowned while the pink haired healer helped keep the girl calm as Alistair was far less subtle as she finished.

“I will fucking kill that man.”

“Alistair!” Murray exclaimed in horrorifed surprise as the former demon made a face of annoyance.

“What? Cursing or not I will still kill him for being an idiot, especially after that shit with Drew.” Chris wiped his face after setting his daughter down as Selene stared at the former demon in mild surprise at his reaction. Cass, however, had a shit eating grin. Alistair made a face at the healer. “What are you looking at?!”

“Somebody’s a little protective of the little one huh?” Cass teased and Alistair went red.

“What? No!” Alistair sputtered as he crossed his arms. “I am not protective! I am a demon! Er-Was a de-”

“I bet you and her have already made friendship bracelets and everything~”

“S-Shut up Witch!” Cass continued to tease the former demon as Daniel rolled his eyes.

“Well, at least we know have a lead on who took him and where he might be…” He sighed. “But of course with this new development, we have another issue to deal with besides that cult…”

“Ms. Bell and Mr. Roy aren’t in trouble, are they?” Ruby asked quietly and Daniel smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, getting to her eye level.

“Ms. Ruby, they weren’t supposed to go and try and get Joshua by themselves, because we don’t know how dangerous it could be, or if those two boys were telling the truth, so they are in some trouble,” Ruby nodded slowly. “But, they’re not in that much trouble, ok? Selene and I will talk to them about running into things without a plan, and that should be it, same with Mr. Piedmont and Ms. Benton, ok?” Ruby nodded slowly.

“M’kay.” Alistair gave the vampire a lidded look.

“You’ve got to be-Ofph!” Murray nudged Alistair, glaring at him.

“Not now.”

.

* * *

 

.

“Of course you resort to such tactless actions.” Gethin said in annoyance as he stepped onto the first floor, seeing the two teenagers “And I see you boys are tied up.”

“T-they have a demon sir!” The youngest boy exclaimed, spotting the man. “A-Alistair Ainsley!” Gethin raised an eyebrow.

“Alistair. Ainsley. They have-”

“Where is Joshua?!” Cordelia demanded as Henry slowly got up to his feet, Stella grabbing his arm before he could attempt manslaughter again.

“Joshua is perfectly safe Ms. Bell,” Gethin said simply. “As I’ve said before, I’m simply going to guide him and teach him all he needs to know about his powers. He is far beyond the rabble-”

“He’s a fucking tattoo artist!” Roy yelled. “He’s not some fucking magician!”

“Ah, yes, because you’d know what an actual magic user is Mr. Bell.” Was the sarcastic retort and Gethin smirked as Roy was held back by Bertie. “Tch, tch, tch, I see now why he has such an edge now. But that does not matter; all roughed edges can be smoothed out with proper care. Besides,” The man smiled wickedly as he turned back to Henry. “ _You_ , on the other hand Henry, have to explain to that little girl’s parents why she saw you murdering me, even if it was a simple fabrication illusion.” Cordelia’s eyes widened.

“Little girl-Ruby!?” Gethin’s smile twitched as Cordelia realized in horror that she spoke aloud.

“So that is what the little one’s name is...how wonderful.”

“What?” Henry asked slowly as he looked at Cordelia, as if hoping she was wrong. “What are you talking about…”

“You weren’t aware?” Gethin said in a patronizing tone. “Oh, the poor man, rushing head first without the entire story, thinking you’re some sort of hero. I’d be applauding if it wasn’t completely pathetic.”

“You are still going to have to face the police for kidnapping Joshua,” Stella said and Gethin scoffed and the two boys snickered.

“Kidnapping? He came with us willingly!” The older teen laughed, earning him a smack upside the head from Lacie. “Ow! Hey!” The teen glared at Lacie as Gethin rolled his eyes before chuckling.

“Joshua is where he belongs, and even the laws would have to acknowledge that.” Gethin mused playfully. “I’d hate to reveal my hand so soon, but I suppose I could assist in helping the gears turn in your pathetic heads.” He reached into his robes and pulled out an old folded picture. “Tell me Henry,” His smile grew wildly as he showed the photo to Henry, whose eyes widened in horror as he saw two familiar-albeit college aged-faces. “Do you _recognize_ anyone here?”

.

* * *

 

.

_“Lillian...can we talk for a sec?” Lillian sighed as Maria sat next to her on the bench while their children were playing in the park. “Lillian, you didn’t get that restraining order against that man and his group, did you?”_

_“He wouldn’t listen if I did anyways...and I can’t risk him making a scene.” She whispered softly and Maria made a face._

_“Lillian…”_

_“He thinks he’s Joshua’s father…The backlash I would get if he went public with that and if people believed him...” Maria’s eyes widened as Lillian wrapped her arms around herself to keep herself together. “I mean we were in college and we were all foolish kids at the time; He and Jonathan were classmates and I knew them through some of the friends I had in school...”_

_“But he can’t be…right? You and Jonathan married well before Joshua was born…” Lillian shrugged, letting out a sigh of defeat._

_“Probably not, but I don’t want to test and see…” Lillian admitted as she looked at Maria. “I mean I’d love him regardless of whoever his father is, but I don’t want to risk learning that nutcase is right and can take Joshy away from me…I-I can’t lose Joshy too...Not after losing J-Jonathan-” Maria held her friend tightly._

_“He won’t Lil, I’ll make sure of it.” She promised. “Nobody in their right mind would let that s-o-b have custody of Joshy for even a second, especially when he’s blabbering on like that Hill fellow Joey hired!” Maria waved her hand absently as Lillian chuckled. “I swear that man is dumber than a box of rocks...Henry’s talking to him tonight so hopefully he’ll stop bothering the kids about that Creator nonsense.” Maria missed the small moment of Lillian flinching slightly before the woman covered it with a chuckle._

_“I certainly hope so...last thing Mr. Drew needs is to explain a man-sized hole in the wall.” Maria laughed brightly as the conversation moved to lighter topics. Soon the women and their children went their separate ways; Lillian and Joshua to head home, and Maria and Linda to go meet Henry at the studio._

.

* * *

 

.

“Should we try and stop him, sir?” One of the robed cultists asked sheepishly as they and one of the older cultists, Antonio, stood in front of the room Joshua was trapped in. The boy in question was trying to break down the door, but apparently Gethin had expected him to get out of the bonds and had locked the door. Antonio shrugged.

“Eh, it’s deadbolted so I doubt he will be able to get out without serious harm to himself.”

“O-Oh...ok...What should we do then?” Antonio smirked as he pulled out some items for a tracking spell.

“Simple, we’re going to pay a little visit to Joey Drew and have a chat. The man may be rather tactless, but you can’t deny that he has a certain _set_ of skills that would be helpful for our needs.”


	6. Chapter 6

Gethin took a not insignificant amount of pleasure in seeing the look of horror dawning on Henry’s features. He hadn’t anticipated the animator being as much of a thorn in his side as he’d become. Hopefully, this would stun him into cooperation, at least for the moment.

“What’s that picture?” Cordelia demanded, her voice going up an octave out of fear. “What does that mean?!” She was shaking like a leaf, which only made Gethin even more pleased. She was turning out to be a nuisance, but he was sure he could find some use for her.

“It’s a picture of myself, along with dear Joshua’s parents,” Gethin said, tucking the photograph back into a hidden pocket in his robe. “At least, who he thinks are his parents.”

“So, what? They **aren’t** his parents?” Roy asked incredulously.

“Not exactly.” Gethin’s smile widened. “Lillian is certainly his mother, but Jonathan, unfortunately, may not be his father.”

“Holy shit.” The older boy whispered.

“This is like a soap opera!” The younger boy squealed.

“You don’t know that for sure!” Henry snapped, Stella having to hold him back again.

“True, I don’t.” Gethin conceded. “But I don’t think Lillian ever did a paternity test, did she?” Henry growled, struggling against Stella once more.

“She doesn’t understand any of this, I’m afraid. I admit I…might have scared her a bit.” Gethin’s expression softened slightly.

“Gee, I wonder why.” Lacie snorted. “Couldn’t possibly be the whole cult thing.” The look on Gethin’s face as he turned to Lacie made the entire group take a step back. Both teenage cultists seemed on the verge of pissing themselves.

“You know nothing of this situation, squib. Stay out of it.” He growled. Lacie, however, stood her ground. She just folded her arms and lifted an eyebrow, daring the cult leader to lay a hand on her. Bertram and Roy were trying very hard not to burst out laughing. Thankfully, Gethin’s attention was drawn back to Henry.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re the one who got Lillian pregnant.” Henry snapped. “That doesn’t make you Joshua’s father. Being a father means being there for your child! It means supporting them no matter what! Being a father requires effort! And you haven’t put in any!”

“Mr. Ross, please calm down,” Bertram said gently. “I think your anger is only serving to amuse our captor.” The older boy muttered something about Lacie being the **real** captor, but a glare from her silenced him.

“He needs to know! You can’t just show up and try to be a part of his life! You weren’t there for him!” Henry was really getting worked up now. No one had seen him quite this angry. Bertram instinctively stepped behind Cordelia, despite being a good foot taller than her.

“None of you would let me anywhere near him.” Gethin shot back. “I **tried** to be there for him. I **tried** to be a part of his life. But you and Lillian kept me away from him.”

“You’re a psycho. Why _wouldn’t_ they keep him away from you?” Stella finally spoke, although she was still mostly consumed with keeping Henry from trying to slice open Gethin’s throat again. She was starting to get tired. She was a pretty strong person, but Henry was not a small man and he had more strength than she’d anticipated would come from an animator.

“High praise coming from the sister of someone just like me.” Gethin directed a smarmy smirk her way.

“Last time I checked; my brother got into cult shit because he was a vulnerable teen who got brainwashed.” Stella deadpanned. “You’re a man in his 50’s who’s _leading_ a cult and has been for decades. Not the same thing.”

“He founded this cult too!” The younger boy piped up. “My dad was one of the first members with him!”

“Shut up, Greg!” The older boy hissed.

“Definitely not the same thing,” Stella said.

Gethin rolled his eyes. “I suppose you’re right. Your brother has never exactly been leader material.”

Stella bit back a rude remark. She hated that he was right. She loved her brother dearly, but he’d never had enough confidence in himself to serve as a leader for anything.

“Are we just going to keep standing here and yelling at each other?” Roy asked, a hint of testiness in his voice. “There are more of us. We should be able to take him down.” He was starting to get nervous and when he got nervous, he got snippy.

“It’s adorable that you still think you have the upper hand.” Gethin laughed. It was an incredibly condescending and patronizing laugh. Everything about Gethin was condescending and patronizing. Roy took a step toward him, ready to fight, but Cordelia pulled him back.

“You’re going to get hurt.” Her voice was small, as if the true magnitude of the situation had finally hit her. They’d come in here unprepared, unsure of what awaited them. They’d just charged in without thinking and now it was possible that they were all going to die. Her anger was ebbing, replaced by a torrent of terrible possibilities.

“It’s good to see at least one of you has some sense.” Gethin directed a smile toward Cordelia that was probably supposed to be comforting. It was not.

“I think we have enough sense.” Bertram huffed a bit. “We didn’t immediately attack you.”

“But we did come here unprepared.” Cordelia murmured.

“That is…true.” Bertram’s bravado faltered. Cordelia began to pick at the skin around her cuticles. She always did it when she needed something to do with her hands. And when she was nervous. She knew it was bad for her, and it always left her fingers bloody messes, but she felt like she had to do it. Around her, everyone continued to bicker. Henry yelled, Roy and Lacie snarked, Gethin was the epitome of condescension.

“I…I want to see Joshy.” She whispered.

Gethin paused, turning his gaze on her. “What was that?”

“I want to see Joshy.” She repeated, her voice a bit louder this time. “Let me see him.”

“Dee-” Roy started to try and dissuade her, panic flashing across his features.

“I have to make sure he’s alright!” She said.

“Well, if you insist.” Before Roy could properly react, Gethin had taken a step forward, grabbed Cordelia by the arm, and the two of them vanished. They reappeared outside the door to Joshua’s cell. Gethin opened the door and essentially tossed her in, causing both Joshua and Cordelia to go tumbling to the ground.

“Have fun,” Gethin said before shutting and locking the door again.

“Sir, some people have been over to Drew’s house.” One of the cultists guarding the cell took a step toward their leader. “Antonio is leading the party.”

“Have him report to me when he returns,” Gethin replied. “I still have to deal with our guests.” Then he was gone once more, back to the group in the entryway.

.

Alistair was still in a positively foul mood, but he was trying not to show his anger on his face. Once Selene and Daniel had the answers they wanted, Chris had insisted on taking Ruby home. He wanted to get her away from everything that was happening and to somewhere he felt was safe. Alistair had insisted upon coming along, much to Chris’ chagrin. Murray had been ready to drag Alistair away until Ruby had said it was okay if Alistair came with them. Chris had remained hesitant but allowed Alistair to follow behind him. And so they walked in silence, Ruby cradled in Chris’ arms while Murray and Alistair trailed behind. Alistair’s façade was cracking a bit, the worry becoming painted across his features.

“She’s going to be alright,” Murray whispered to him.

“But what if she isn’t?” Alistair hissed back. “She just watched a man commit murder! And she’s the one who led that cult to Joshua in the first place!” Chris shot a warning glance back at the two of them.  

“Daddy? Did I do something wrong?” Ruby looked up at her father. She’d calmed down a bit since her questioning, but she still seemed to be rather upset.

“Of course not.” Chris smiled gently, patting her head.

“But…I told the robey man where to find Uncle Joshy.” Ruby’s lip started to quiver. “And- And now Uncle Joshy’s in trouble.”

“He’s not in trouble.” Chris tried to reassure her, but Ruby wasn’t having it.

“He is! Mr. Roy said a cult got him and everybody’s faces keep getting all sad when people talk about him.” She looked like she was about to cry. “I did something bad and now Uncle Joshy’s in trouble!”

“You didn’t know what would happen.” They were almost at the house now. He was hoping that if he could get her home, Marcos and Rosanna would be able to help raise her spirits.

“May I say a few words to your daughter?” Alistair asked, tapping Chris on the shoulder. Chris tensed at the touch, abruptly stopping in his tracks as he looked from Ruby to Alistair. Ruby looked on the verge of a full-on meltdown.

“…Alright.” He turned around so that Ruby was facing the former demon. Satisfied, Alistair began to speak.

“Miss Ruby, you are a good person. You are kind and compassionate and believe in the best in people.” He said, his voice far softer and kinder than Murray had ever heard him sound. “Because of that, there **will** be people who will take advantage of you. But that is their failing, not yours. They can claim that kindness is a weakness, or that you’re foolish and naïve. They are wrong.” He brushed some hair out of her eyes, a small smile spreading across his face. “People like you are incredibly important. I don’t want you to forget that. One act of kindness can make an incredible difference in someone’s life. And remember,” He reached out and tapped her nose. “It takes far more strength to be kind than it does to be cruel.”

There was a tenderness to his expression that Murray had never seen from the demon before. He couldn’t help but smile himself. Alistair could try to deny it all he liked, but it was clear that Ruby had stolen his heart. Who would have thought a demon would have such strong fatherly instincts?

“He’s right.” Chris couldn’t help but smile. “You’re a lovely little lady, and we’re all lucky to have you in our lives.” He planted a kiss on her cheek, eliciting some giggles from the little girl. Internally, he breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t exactly expected Murray’s weird boyfriend to have that kind of wisdom. Ruby certainly seemed to be feeling better. No longer in danger of crying, Ruby snuggled against her father’s chest. However, something still seemed to be nagging at her.

“Uncle Joshy’s gonna be okay, right?” She asked quietly. “And he’s not gonna be mad at me?”

“He’s going to be fine,” Chris replied. “And I seriously doubt he’ll be mad at you. Now, let’s get you home. I’m sure your mama and poppa are wondering where we’ve been.”

“Okay!” Ruby lit up at the prospect of seeing Rosanna and Marcos. They began moving once more, managing to make it back to the house without any more problems.

.

“Hello, ma’am, I was wondering if I could speak to Mr. Dre-”

“No.” Esther slammed the door in the face of the stranger.

“Mom? Who was that?” Rachel stuck her head into the front hallway. She held in her arms several Isaac’s art history books and some fuzzy blankets.

“No one, sweetheart.” Esther smiled gently, despite the banging on the door. “How’s Joey doing?”

“Not great.” Rachel frowned. “He keeps apologizing and hiding under the blankets. Isaac’s trying to cheer him up with his books and stuff.” She held up the books. “He’s telling Uncle Joey about Van Gogh right now.”

“That’s nice.”

“Does Uncle Joey like matza ball soup?” Rachel shifted the books in her arms. “Cause I was gonna make that too. It always cheers me up when I’m sad.”

“I don’t think he’s had matza ball soup in a long time.” Esther’s expression softened.

“But would he like it?”

“Yes, yes he would.”

“Okay.” Rachel nodded with an adorable determination. “I’m gonna go give Isaac these books and then I’m gonna do that.”

“Have your father help you!” Esther called after her. Then she turned back to the door. When she opened it again, the man was still there, looking rather disgruntled.

“I don’t know who you are.” She said, her voice low and dangerous. “But I know that you are not going to see my brother. If you don’t get off my doorstep and back to where you came from, I can promise you will regret it.”


	7. Chapter 7

...

“Look, I want this to be as easy as possible for all parties involved.” He said, biting back a sigh as the woman glared at him. “Five minutes, ten at the most, and then me and my associate will be out of your hair for the time being.” He shot an annoyed glare at the young adult, who was refusing to look at the older adults, having been the one banging on the door after she slammed it in Antonio’s face. The woman’s face didn’t change and Antonio sighed. “Look, you should understand that he is a man who has played with powers beyond his comprehension, correct? We merely wish to talk to him and offer-”

“No.”

“At least let him fin-” Antonio placed a hand on the younger adult’s shoulder, interrupting him snapping at the woman.

“I can handle this. Go back and grab something for everybody back at the base, alright?.” The young cultist looked hesitant before sighing and walking back. Antonio chuckled as he watched the young adult huff off. “Kids these days.” He offered as a joke but the woman was still not impressed. “Alright, let me try this again; my boss wants to know how much of the magic community Joey knows and see if there’s anything that can assist us in a small thing that came up recently.”

“Let me guess, something related to a cult?” She spat and Antonio rolled his eyes.

“Your kids were the ones Greg and Matt and Rick scared huh? Yeah, they’re dumbasses, but what kid wasn’t at that age…” He waved his hand absently. 

“They pulled a gun on him.” Antonio wiped his face; Gethin certainly forgot to mention _that_ happened.

“Of fucking course they did….” He muttered before looking at the woman. “You know what? Forget I even showed up; this is getting too far, even for Gethin.” The woman raised an eyebrow and Antonio sighed, knowing this might bite him later. “Gethin, my boss, he didn’t take the fact Lillian refused to even acknowledge the idea that he might be the kid’s father too well and he’s…” Antonio sighed softly. “He hasn’t been ok in a long time, especially after finding out that the kid’s got _that_ kinda power right after Jonathan’s death...what’s the old saying? That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, or something like that…” 

“Now you're going to stop him?” Antonio shrugged.

“I’ll at least try and talk to him...he’s a bit thick headed so we’ll have to see.” He laughed. “‘Sides, I’m an old coot, if I kick the bucket, I’ve done my time on this plane of existence!” The woman made a face as Antonio turned. “Anyways, sorry ‘bout bothering you ma’am. Hope you and Mr. Drew have a good day.” He waved without turning around and headed back to the place, hoping to knock some sense into his boss and friend.

.

* * *

.

“J-Joshy, I’m fine! It’s ok!” Cordelia said quickly as her boyfriend held her tightly, apologizing for getting her in this mess. “A-Are you though?!” Joshua made a weak shrugging motion after a few long moments of silence.

“‘M tired…” He mumbled softly. “And I just wanna go home…” Cordelia smiled gently as she held him before she realized that he still didn’t know the truth. She sighed sadly and pulled back. “Dee?”

“Joshy…” She took a deep breath. “That man thinks he’s your father…” Joshua stared at his girlfriend as she explained the past hour and a half and by the end of it, he was silent, fists clenched tightly as he and Cordelia sat on the ground along one of the walls.

“That’s….he…” Joshua sighed and wiped his face. “That doesn’t make any sense…”

“It doesn’t…” Cordelia admitted softly, hugging her knees. “But he had a photo of him with them, and he claimed that your mom and Henry kept him away…” Joshua pursed his lips.

“Yeah, the whole kidnapping and being a creep for years instead of just trying to talk to me or mom or dad or whatever just _totally_ makes him sympathetic.” Joshua muttered sarcastically and Cordelia chuckled. “At least the others will take care of him and help us out.” Cordelia nodded as she rested her head on his shoulder, him resting his head on hers, neither quite fully believing that.

“Yeah...”

.

* * *

.

“Drew World, this is Grant Cohen,” Grant said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Hello, Mr. Cohen,” A woman’s voice said, obviously trying to be upbeat. “This is Lillian Foster, Joshua’s mother...um, is he still at work?”

“Oh,” Grant made a face, despite the fact that no one could see it. “I’m not entirely sure actually...I saw him hanging out with Mrs. Klien’s kids a few hours ago…”

“Oh…” The disappointment was obvious in the woman’s voice and Grant quickly spoke up, not wanting to leave the woman too disappointed despite the lack of help.

“Well, I can call Henry and see what’s going on and get right back to you, alright Mrs. Foster? I know Henry’s usually got him playing Joey’s babysitter so he usually knows where he’s at.” 

“I would appreciate it greatly, thank you Mr. Cohen…I hope to hear from you soon..” Grant hung up before dialing Henry’s cell phone. He waited a few moments before it picked up.

“What?!” Henry exclaimed and Grant made a face.

“Hello to you too, sheesh, what crawled up your shorts?” Grant snarked.

“You better have a damn good explainat-” An unfamiliar voice said.

“Shut the fuck up and bring my sister back or-” 

“Roy! You can’t commit manslaughter!”

“Watch me! Let me go Bert-” Grant blinked slowly before speaking again.

“Henry...what's going on?” There was some cursing from a faraway voice and Grant sighed loudly as he started to pull up his own phone, an uneasy feeling about the entire situation rising and he had a feeling that this had something to do with Mrs. Foster’s call and the whereabouts of Joshua. He sighed to himself. “Between Joey and Henry, it’s a miracle that boy is still normal…”

“I heard that!” Grant rolled his eyes.

“You say that as if I didn’t know that.”

“He got you good old-OW!” A teenager’s voice was heard and the sound of the trademark Benton smack upside the head. Grant sighed; he wasn’t paid enough for this shit.


	8. Chapter 8

Antonio and Gethin had been friends for years now. In a way, they were rather like Henry and Joey. Gethin was a man of ideas, while Antonio was the one who got things done. Gethin may have been the figurehead of the cult, the one who swayed the members with his words, but Antonio was the one who kept everything up and running. And honestly? He was starting to realize that this had all gotten way out of hand. He was mentally kicking himself for not realizing it sooner. They were running a cult! A **_cult_**! Cults were bad! They were always bad! And he was helping his best friend run one!

“Sir? Why didn’t we go in?” The kid who’d come with him asked. “Why didn’t you make that lady let us talk to Drew?”

“This has gone too far,” Antonio replied. “I’m putting a stop to it.”

“B-But the boss is gonna be really mad!”

“Let him be mad.” Antonio snorted. “I’m done dealing with his shit.” The kid let out a small whimper, trailing behind him. That should have been the first sign that this had all gone too far. Gethin’s followers were terrified of him. Terrified he’d hurt them. And he did. Gethin never hurt them too badly, but he did punish his followers when they disobeyed or messed up. He felt an uncomfortable lump developing in his stomach. Why had he let this go so far? Why hadn’t he stopped Gethin sooner?

“You don’t think he’ll hurt you, do you, sir?” The kid beside him asked in a small voice. Antonio looked over at him. The kid was barely out of college, maybe 23 at most. His name was Luke or something if Antonio remembered correctly.

“If he does, he better know I’m going to fight back,” Antonio replied, although his voice wavered a bit. He didn’t think Gethin would hurt him. Then again, he hadn’t thought Gethin would kidnap a kid either, so he didn’t know what to expect. He took a deep breath. It would be fine, he told himself. His friend was still in there somewhere.

The closer they got to the house, the more nervous Luke became. He kept stopping, as if hoping Antonio would stop as well, before running after him when it was clear he wouldn’t.

“M-Maybe we should try again with Drew?” He suggested, his voice going high. “Or, um, at least find s-something to show for this trip.” Antonio stopped, sighing heavily.

“Go home, kid.” He said. “You don’t want to be here when this goes down.” Luke hesitated for a moment, eyes darting from Antonio to the sidewalk behind him. Then he bolted. Antonio continued the rest of the way by himself.

It was pandemonium when he entered the front hall. Lacie was holding back Greg and Matt, Bertram was restraining the elder Bell sibling, Stella was restraining Henry, and Gethin was being a dick. So, business as usual basically. Antonio paused in the doorway, then counted the people again. There’d been a girl with them, he was sure of it. Where had she gone? Gethin had probably done something with her, judging from Roy’s reaction.

“Ah! Antonio! You’re back!” Gethin lit up upon catching sight of his friend. “Where, pray tell, is Mr. Drew?” All activity stopped as the other inhabitants of the entry hall turned their attention to Antonio.

“I didn’t get him,” Antonio replied, trying to ignore the sudden wave of anxiety washing over him. Gethin was his friend. He had no reason to be worried. Gethin would understand. He had to.

“Why not?” Gethin’s smile vanished, replaced by an expression of slight irritation.

“Why not-? Are you kidding me?” Antonio gritted his teeth. “Do you not see how insane this is?!”

“I’m quite sure I don’t know what you mean.” Gethin folded his arms. His lack of reaction overrode Antonio’s anxiety, replacing it with frustration and anger.

“This has gotten out of hand, Gethin!” Antonio snapped. “You kidnapped someone!”

“He’s my s-” Gethin began to give the same excuse, which almost made Henry lunge at him again, but Antonio cut him off before he could get any further.

“You don’t know that!” He yelled. “You have no idea if he’s your son or not! You might as well have just kidnapped a stranger!”

“I have a righ-” Gethin’s expression was starting to twist now, anger rising.

“And even if he **is** your son, what are you going to do?” Antonio continued. “He’s a legal adult! You can’t just demand custody of a legal adult! You’re lucky Lillian hasn’t gotten a restraining order against you!”

“I’m doing what is best for him,” Gethin said through gritted teeth. “He and Lillian will understand in time.”

“How is any of this for _Joshua’s_ own good?” Antonio demanded. “This is about you. It’s always been about you.” To everyone’s surprise, Henry stopped struggling against Stella, his brow furrowed in worry and concern.

“Whoever you are, you need to stop.” He said, watching Antonio.

“What are you doing, Henry?” Stella whispered.

“Stay out of this!” Gethin snapped. “This is none of your business, Ross!”

“I would argue this is exactly his business,” Bertram said. “Given that he went through this exact situation.” Lacie gave him a warning look, drawing him back. She could feel the tension building in the room and she didn’t like it.

“I know what I’m doing.” Antonio glanced at Henry.

“I had this exact conversation with Joey and it didn’t end well for either of us,” Henry said. “Please, you need to stop. Before he hurts you.”

“He’s my friend. He’s not going to hurt me.” Antonio replied coolly.

“That’s what I thought too. Then he killed my wife and daughter. What do you think will happen to you?” The dark look on Henry’s face made Antonio take an instinctive step back.

“I thought you were my friend, Antonio.” Gethin snarled. “I thought I could trust you!”

“I **am** your friend.” Antonio tried to suppress a frustrated sigh. “That’s why I can’t let you do this. Someone’s going to get hurt, Gethin.” His voice and expression softened as he took a step toward Gethin. “And I don’t want it to be you.”

For a moment, it seemed like he might have gotten through to him. Then Gethin’s expression turned positive demonic.

“You will not stand in my way!” He roared as his hands caught flame.

“So that’s how you’re going to play this, huh?” Antonio narrowed his eyes. “Well, fine. Two can play at that game.” He then launched himself at the other man, the two of them beginning to tousle on the ground. Everyone began to panic, and it was at this point that Roy slipped out of Bertram’s grip.

“Mr. Bell!” Bertram yelled as Roy ran over to the two fighting men. Roy didn’t respond, grabbing a key from Gethin’s belt while he was distracted and darting deeper into the house. He was going to find his sister.

Back in the cell, Cordelia looked up at the door at the sound of yelling. Something was obviously going on outside. Maybe the others were finally taking Gethin down. She certainly hoped so.

“It sounds like something’s happening.” She said. “Maybe we’ll get out soon.” Joshua just grunted in acknowledgment.

“Yeah, I know.” She sighed. “This has been…a long day.” She could hear the cultists outside whispering to one another. They sounded…afraid. She caught little snippets.

“-boss’s gone crazy!”

“-attacking Mr. Toni-”

“Hey, do you smell smoke?” Joshua sat up abruptly, his eyes going wide. Cordelia froze, then sniffed the air.

“…Oh, fuck.”

Both sprung to their feet, running to the cell door. There was indeed smoke coming from somewhere down the hall.

“What’s going on?!” Joshua demanded.

“I-I don’t know!” One of the cultists yelled. “The boss went crazy!”

“Let us out!” Cordelia banged on the door. “I am not going to die because of you assholes!”

“We don’t have the key!” Another cultist yelled. There was a moment of silence, and then both Cordelia and Joshua were cursing the cultists out at the top of their lungs. Thankfully, it was at this point that Roy appeared.

“Get out.” He snapped at the cultists. They didn’t need to be told twice, already running away from him.

“What’s going on?” Joshua asked as Roy unlocked the door.

“That creep’s friend showed up and made some big speech about not letting him do this or whatever,” Roy said. “They’re fighting now. Cult creep lit his hands on fire.”

“So the house is on fire?” Cordelia’s eyes widened.

“Probably.” Roy shrugged, swinging the door open. “Which is why we need to get out of here.”

“Let’s go to Chris’.” Joshua started down the hallway. “It’s close by.”

“Are you sure we won’t be intruding?” Cordelia cursed herself as soon as the words left her mouth. Seriously? That was what she was thinking about?

“It’ll be fine,” Joshua assured her with a weary smile.

“Sounds good. Let’s go.” Roy practically shoved them down the hall. He was sure everyone else would be fine.

.

Rosanna, Marcos, and Chris were in the middle of a very tense conversation regarding the fact that their child had the power to astral project when they heard the doorbell ring.

“I wonder who that could be.” Rosanna glanced at the door.

“Maybe it’s Henry.” Chris headed to the door. The moment the door opened, Joshua practically fell onto the other man.

“What the-? Joshy?” Chris’ eyes widened, both at the state of Joshua and the fact that he was there.

“Is that Joshua?” Marcos asked. “Is he okay?”

“Hi. We escaped the cult.” Roy announced as Cordelia hovered nervously beside him.

“Hello.” She smiled sheepishly. “Um…Sorry about this.”


	9. Chapter 9

...

“And here I thought the demon was going to be the hard part of my day…” Selene muttered under her breath as she shot a glare at Antonio, Henry, and Gethin, who were sitting on the curb, magically handcuffed to each other while one of the healers was healing them from their fight and the burns. Thankfully, everyone had gotten out of the building just in time, so as firefighters were handling the fire, the healers and EMTs were helping the other cultists with their minor injuries, while David himself was talking with Bertie and Lacie, and thankfully a phone call from Chris and Rosanna alerted her to where Joshua was at for a later meeting potentially. “May I ask _why_ you thought it was a good idea to go after and try to find Mr. Foster without back up?” Henry looked away as Gethin scoffed.

“Damn idiot is what he is.” Henry growled and glared at him.

“Why you-”

“ _Enough_.” Selene snapped. “You three are acting worse than children.” The three men stopped and refused to look at the woman as Selene sighed. “Heir, I don’t understand why you thought this was a good idea to begin with; you’ve never done something this stupid or dangerous before.”

“The boy is my so-” Henry frowned.

“You don’t-”

“Why didn’t you just ask his mother to take a paternity test?” Selene demanded, her patience with this situation running very thin.

“She wouldn’t even entertain the idea.” Gethin huffed and Selene raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t want to ruin Jonathan’s image but publicly demanding her to take the test.” Gethin’s face went red as Henry and Antonio looked at him, while the man stared at his feet.

“How…” Henry looked at Selene and the healer snorted.

“She’s a psychic sir. It’s her thing.” Antonio looked at Gethin and made a face.

“ _That’s_ why you didn’t want to go public?” Antonio asked slowly. “To not ruin a dead man-”

“He was my friend Antonio! Jonathan was the only friend I had in that damn place and that fucking bitch used me and stole-” Gethin snapped, fighting back tears and Selene frowned, nodding to the healer, who quickly uttered a spell and Gethin’s head suddenly dropped and the man was out cold.

“When did this Jonathan man die?” She asked sternly and Henry had to bite back a gulp at the icy stare of the woman as she turned to him.

“Joshy was about 6 or seven at the time,” Henry started slowly. “I-It was a car accident I think...someone wasn’t looking when they going and t-boned the car Jonathan and Lillian were in…” Henry sighed shakily. “Joshy and Linda were at the studio, visiting me and Joey at the time…Maria was one of the nurses working at the hospital when they came in…” He remembered the phone call from his wife, who had been fighting back tears as she explained what happened and that he needed to bring Joshua to the hospital as soon as possible to see his father one last time. Selene nodded sternly before turning to Antonio. 

“Heir never told you about this?”

“I mean I knew he thought the kid was his, and I knew Lillian was being way too overprotective of the kid, but I didn’t know he was _that_ close to Jonathan...they were roommates in college as far as I knew.” Selene sighed and rubbed her temples.

“I don’t get paid enough for this.”

.

* * *

 

.

“How are you feeling Joshy?” Joshua smiled weakly as he lay on the couch, and ruffled Ruby’s hair.

“A lot better now after a nap admittedly,” He said. “I like your hair do…” Ruby beamed.

“Thanks! Mr. Alistair did it for me!” Ruby said before her smile fell slightly. “Y-you’re not mad at me...are you?” Joshua chuckled.

“Of course not Rubes, I’m just glad you’re alright…” He said. “Those guys were something else, and I wouldn’t want anything to scare you there,” Ruby’s face fell as both Cordelia and Roy exchanged looks of concern.

“Yeah about that…” Chris said. “Um...how do I put this…”

“Your idiot of a father figure murdered a man. Rather gleefully I might add.” Murray swatted Alistair upside the head as Joshua, Cordelia, and Roy stared at him. “OW!! What the heck was that for?!”

“Well he got better apparently.” Roy argued. “Cause he was there. He mentioned something about illusions or whatever.”

“Still, he attacked someone.” Rosanna pointed out firmly. “And the head of a cult; he’s lucky that he didn’t get himself possessed or killed for being an idiot.” Ruby looked at her shoes and, despite the concern for his health, Joshua pulled her into a hug, comforting the girl.

“Well, we’re going to have to have a long talk with him.” Joshua said as he laid back down. “Cause I’m thinking that having to wrangle Joey all the time _and_ this is a bit much, even for me…”

“Yeah, and as cool as Bertie and Lacie are for having you be their helper, I don’t want you getting hurt sweetpea.” Chris said, patting his daughter’s shoulder. She frowned slightly and Chris made a smirk. “But maaaaybe, just maybe, we can discuss with your buddies coming over to either my place or Momma and Poppa’s place to keep an eye on yo-” Ruby’s eyes lit up as she tightly hugged her father, earning chuckles from Cordelia and a smile from Roy as even Alistair couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“I am calling first swing though when we see Henry though.” Marcos said simply. “Nobody scares my baby girl and makes it out without the consequences.” Joshua sighed.

“Yeah…”

“Well, we better let you catch some more z’s man, I’ll go call you mom and let her know you’re gonna have to miss that luncheon thing,” Chris said and Joshua groaned loudly. 

“I forgot about that…”

“Come on Mr. Roy!” Ruby said, taking the man’s hand. “Lemme show you what me and Mr. Murray and Mr. Alistair made!” She led the men back to her playroom as Cordelia fiddled with her dress sleeves. Rosanna smiled.

“Miss Bell, do you want to help me make dinner? I’d ask Marcos, but I think he’s going to make sure the boys don’t mess up the playroom.” Marcos turned, already on his way towards the playroom and gave his wife a look. Cordelia chuckled slightly, grateful there was a way she could help out and not feel like she was intruding, despite what the others said.

“O-Of course! I’d be happy to help!”


	10. Chapter 10

Selene massaged her temples as she watched the three men handcuffed on the curb.

“You are **_grown men,_** ” She said through gritted teeth. She’d been repeating some variation of that for the past half an hour now. Every time it seemed she’d calmed down; she remembered the sheer idiocy of the three men in front of her and she began all over again.

“Grown men tend to be the most idiotic,” Lacie said from a few feet away. Bertram flushed and mumbled something, gently tugging her away.

“She’s not wrong.” Stella fought back a fit of giggles. It was inappropriate to laugh, she knew that, but she was so tired.

“If it helps, I’m pretty disappointed in us too,” Antonio admitted. He’d shifted Gethin into his lap so that he wouldn’t pass out on the pavement. They’d been friends long enough that it probably wouldn’t be awkward when Gethin woke up.

“It does help. A little.” At least if they recognized they’d made a mistake it would make the whole investigation easier.

“What’s going to happen to us?” Henry asked. It seemed like he was finally understanding the gravity of his actions as the color was draining from his face.

“That’s a good question.” Stella looked expectantly at Selene.

“I don’t know.” Selene sighed. “There will be repercussions, you can be sure of that, I’m just not sure what they’ll be. This is a…unique situation.” Technically speaking, Gethin’s little “cult” was a recognized organization. It was recorded as an organization dedicated to the promotion of creation magic. Gethin had always been on the fanatical side, but he’d never been an outright threat to other people before. This whole thing regarding Joshua was a troubling development.

“Those two are in the most trouble, due to the kidnapping fiasco.” She gestured to Antonio and Gethin. “But you…” She knelt in front of Henry. “You murdered someone. Sure, you did it to protect your son and it may have turned out to be an illusion, but you still killed someone.”

“I…Did.” Henry nodded slowly. He swallowed thickly, trying to ease the tightness that was forming in his throat. His mouth felt dry. He had killed someone. Or tried to, at least. And Ruby had seen it. Someone had said Ruby had seen it. Oh, gods. He’d committed murder in front of a child! He felt sick.

“I need to apologize to Ruby.” He said. “Please, let me go apologize.”

Selene stood back up, narrowing her eyes warily. “How do I know you won’t just bolt if I let you out?”

“Wha-?! Why would I run away?” Henry sputtered. “Do you really think I’m the kind of man who runs away?”

“I don’t know.” She replied coolly. “You seem to be full of surprises today.”

“I’m not going to run,” Henry said. “I just want to apologize to Ruby and Joshy for all the trouble I caused.” Selene watched him intently for a very long time. Finally, she sighed heavily and pulled out a key.

“Alright.” She knelt and unlocked his cuffs. “But we **will** need to talk about what happened. And to make sure you don’t forget…” She put a bracelet on his wrist. It was made of silver metal with a glowing green gem in the center. “That will tell me where you are at all times.”

“Erm, alright. Thank you.” Henry stood up, rubbing his wrists. “I’ll talk to you later.” He started off but was stopped when Stella grabbed his hand.

“I’m coming too.” She said. “My brother’s probably at that house.”

“Alright.” Henry nodded and they continued together.

The first thing he was greeted by upon arriving at Chris’ home was a fist to the face from Marcos. Henry reeled back, clutching his jaw. Good Lord, Marcos hit hard. Stella took a step back.

“WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?!” Marcos yelled. Chris stood in the doorway behind him, arms folded and a disapproving look on his face.

“I think I’d like to hear this too.” He said.

“I deserved that.” Henry gasped.

“Is that Henry?” Joshua’s voice came from inside. “Bring him in! I want to yell at him!” Marcos and Chris both stepped away from the doorway, watching Henry expectantly. Henry made his way inside, feeling very much like a guilty teenager who’d been caught in the act of doing something he shouldn’t have. Joshua was on the couch, Ruby sitting on him. Murray and Alistair were sitting on the floor, currently engrossed in putting together what appeared to be a 1000-piece puzzle. Upon seeing Henry, Ruby whimpered and buried her face in Joshua’s chest.

“What were you thinking?” Joshua asked, his voice eerily calm.

“I…I wasn’t,” Henry mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

“I wasn’t. Thinking, I mean.” Henry avoided eye contact, watching the ground. “I…I know there’s no justification for what I did. I wasn’t thinking and I did something stupid.”

“That’s an understatement.” Alistair snickered. Murray slapped the back of his head.

“Why do you keep hitting me?!” Alistair snapped, grabbing the back of his head.  

“You keep saying things you shouldn’t!” Murray snapped back. “Would it kill you to have a little tact?!”

“Good to see you two idiots are alright.” Stella sank to the floor, sighing in relief.

“Is everyone from the house okay?” Cordelia poked her head out of the kitchen. “There was a fire.”

“They’re fine. Everyone got evacuated.” Henry replied.

“What about the cult leaders?” Roy asked.

“Ms. Castelia arrested them. And, um, me. Very briefly.”

“You did kill someone.” Rosanna appeared behind Cordelia, looking similarly displeased.

“I know.” Henry’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. There’s no excuse for what I did and you all have every right to be angry with me. I deserve it.”

“You do.” Marcos folded his arms. “You terrified my daughter. I’m not just going to let that slide.”

“I know.” Henry nodded defeatedly. Now he knew exactly how Joey had felt. Seeing so many people who cared about him look at him with such distaste…it felt awful He hadn’t entirely processed the gravity of what he’d done, but it was certainly hitting him now.

“Ms. Castelia wants to talk to me later about all this.” He gestured to the bracelet on his wrist. “She only let me go because I wanted to apologize to Ruby and Joshua.”

“Apology accepted,” Joshua said. “But we need to talk.” He sat up, gently moving Ruby off of him. He started toward an empty room and Henry followed. The living room was left in silence, everyone’s eyes on the door Henry and Joshua had disappeared behind.

“I think that went pretty well.” Roy finally said.

“Your bar for ‘going well’ is pretty low.” Cordelia gave him a pointed look.

“No one died or got seriously injured. That’s pretty good for today.”

Cordelia sighed and shook her head, heading back into the kitchen.

“Why don’t you help us, sweetheart?” Rosanna suggested, shepherding Ruby into the kitchen as well. Ruby sniffled loudly, clinging to her mother’s leg.

“He has a point,” Alistair remarked, going back to the puzzle. “People not dying or getting injured is very good.”

“You’re a demon. Your opinion doesn’t count.” Murray rolled his eyes. Marcos and Chris both froze, looking slowly down at Murray and Alistair.

“What…What did you say?” Chris asked.

“He used to be a demon. His opinion doesn’t…count…” Murray trailed off, the color draining from his face. “Oh…”

“Wait, they don’t know?” Stella’s eyes went wide. “How did that not come up?”

“It just didn’t!” Murray started to panic a little as Marcos and Chris looked at each other and then at Alistair. Alistair, to his credit, was still working away at the puzzle. This was going to be an…interesting conversation.


	11. Chapter 11

....

“He’s a demon?!” Chris demanded, gesturing to Alistair, who was ignoring them, focusing on completing the puzzle. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us!?”

“There really isn’t a way to gently explain that kind of thing,” Murray argued back. “And you never asked; heck, I thought you two knew!” Chris and Marcos stared at Murray like they couldn’t believe him before Chris turned to Roy.

“Did you know?!” Roy shrugged.

“I mean, he did visit Joshua a while ago, before he lost his demon powers.” Roy said simply. “But like Murray said, he’s harmless…” The hurt of Chris’s face was obvious as he barely managed to get his voice louder than a whisper.

“And...Y-You didn’t tell me? You didn’t think that was something to mention to me?!” Roy hesitated as Chris looked at him, completely heartbroken. “I-I trusted you…I..l-l..” Chris looked like he was going to say something else, but Marco placed a hand on Chris’s shoulder, stopping the man.

“Alistair.” The former demon looked up lazily at the werewolf. 

“Your daughter was in no harm.” He said simply. “When I was actually roped into watching her, that witch had already stripped me of my power. And even then, I assumed she had no connection to the magical community so I would have been wasting air trying to tempt her into any kind of magic, demonic or no.” Alistair shrugged. “It is the truth, regardless of how strange it seems.” Marcos’s expression was hard to read as the man sighed, but before he spoke there was knocking at the door before an older woman laughed. 

“Lillian, Lillian, there’s no need to knock!” She said before the door opened. “Chris and Joshua have known each other since they were in diapers, you can just walk into-Oh! Murray! Stella!”

“M-Mother?!” Both Murray and Stella exclaimed as the woman quickly waltzed over to them as Joshua’s mother, Lillian, apologized quietly to Marcos and Chris. Mrs. Hill looked over her son and moved his head slightly and pinching his cheek.

“You haven’t been eating right, have you Murray?” She scolded and Murray’s face went red.

“M-mother I’ve been bu-”

“No excuses!” Alistair had to fight back a snort as the attention was turned to Stella. “Ah, darling! How is that business of yours doing? I hope you haven’t had people calling thinking you’re offering hookups.”

“M-Mother!” Stella exclaimed, face beet red. “W-What are you talking about?!”

“You know how in the gutter some normal men can be.” Stella groaned loudly as her mother turned to Marcos. “I am certainly glad that you and Rosanna have finally agreed to let Ruby surpass her potential, and while me and my husband would’ve loved to teach the young lady, I know my children with most definitely get her to-”

“What are you talking about Mother?” Stella asked and her mother looked at her in confusion. 

“What? Why else would you be here?”

“Because we were helping Joshua recover from his little misadventure.” Alistair pointed out.

“I’m glad to see how calm you are handling this,” Chris snarked as Lillian looked concerned.

“Where is he?” Once she was directed to the room, she hurried over and entered, leaving the chaos of the conversation to those in the living room. Joshua and Henry looked up, sitting across from each other.

“M-Mom?” Joshua exclaimed as his mother quickly embraced him in a hug. “M-Mom, I-I’m fine!”

“No you’re not!” She exclaimed. “I tried to call you, the amusement park, and then I heard from Chris you’re at his house?! What happened and don’t you lie to me!” Joshua looked at his mother before sighing softly. Lillian sat next to him as he and Henry explained everything that happened, leaving nothing out. Lillian was trembling by the end of it before she let out a sigh.

“That bastard doesn’t know what know what the word no means.” She growled before turning to her son. “Joshy, I’m so sor-”

“Why.” Lillian and Henry looked at Joshua in surprise.

“W-What?” Joshua looked at his mother.

“You made him out to be some monster, some boogeyman, and something that I had to avoid at all cost...but dad was nonchalant about him…so, why?”

“Joshua he _kidnapped_ you!” Joshua frowned.

“Because you essentially refused to acknowledge that you slept with another person besides Dad!” Joshua stood up. “You know Dad would’ve been fine if I wasn’t actually his!” Lillian stood, Henry following as well.

“Joshua, that’s not the concern I had-”

“What, the bitching from the ladies at church still happens regardless of whatever I do!” Joshua snapped. “Doesn’t matter if I break my back helping them, or if me and my girlfriend are ‘cute’, I’m still some hooligan or ruffian, or some poor child who had to rely on other people’s fathers because my mother was too stubborn to move on!” Joshua struggled to keep himself composed as both Henry and Lillian stared at the young man, clearly unaware of the hurt that plagued the young man.

“J-Josh-” 

“I don’t want to hear it.” Joshua said, brushing past his mother and Henry and towards the kitchen. Lillian trembled before slumping back onto the couch.

“I-I just wanted to protect him...I just want him to be safe…”

“I know Lillian…” Henry offered a smile. “He’s probably still reeling from what happened today...he’ll be ok after he gets some more sleep and food.” Lillian sighed softly and smiled.

“I hope so Henry…”

.

* * *

 

.

“Hi Daddy!” Ruby said cheerfully, sitting on the counter, kicking her feet as Joshua was leaning against the counter next to her. “Joshy is helping me keep an eye on Momma and Miss Bell!” Chris smiled weakly as Rosanna turned as Cordelia was focusing on mixing the salad.

“Oh hey, Chris...everything alright?” Chris shrugged reluctantly.

“I’ll manage…” Rosanna made a face as Cordelia turned around as well.

“Chris?”

“Honestly it’s nothing guys,” He said quickly. “I mean, it’s not like we weren’t even together or h-he even l-liked me in t-that way-”

“Daddy?” Ruby asked softly as Rosanna came over and hugged Chris who struggled to hold back his tears. “D-Daddy, what’s wrong?!” Joshua smiled sadly and took Ruby’s shoulder.

“He’ll be ok Ruby...he’s just realized that...things aren’t going the way he thought they were going with someone he really liked…” Ruby nodded slowly as Cordelia looked confused before seeing Joshua mouth the person’s name. Cordelia’s face fell for a moment before she puffed up and set the salad bowl down.

“Miss Bell?” Ruby asked slowly as Cordelia stormed into the living. “Where’s she going?” Joshua snickered.

“She’s going to lay down the hammer of the Bell Family…She doesn’t really like the idea of people not communicating their feelings.”

“Oooh, so she’s gonna make Mr. Murray and Mr. Alistair kiss?” Chris managed out a snort as Rosanna chuckled.

“Not who I meant, but she’ll probably talk to those two before she gets back.” Ruby nodded firmly and rather adorably.

“Okey doke!”


	12. Chapter 12

...

“Oh, that is most certainly strange,” Mrs. Hill said after she got the lowdown from the others of the events that went down. “Joshua certainly didn’t have a magical signature, and I’ve seen-Well, it would make more sense if that’s the case if Lillian used a spell to hide his signature and it started to wear off...Unless…” She looked at her son “Mr. Drew was attempting magic and what not, right? At the amusement park, correct?” Murray nodded simply. 

“Yeah...he had kidnapped Joshua, to get Henry to come to the amusement park…” The woman nodded.

“That explains it! If he had used magic to kidnap Joshua or to keep him in one place, then Lillian’s spell or charm to hide Joshua’s magical signature would’ve fizzed out or been cancelled; magic is pretty finicky after all…”

“Roy!” Cordelia stormed up to her brother, a fire in her eyes. Roy blinked in confusion before Mrs. Hill chuckled.

“Oh! You must be Cordelia!” Cordelia looked at the woman in confusion. “Lillian has been telling all about you! You and Joshua are such an adorable pair!” Cordelia blushed slightly.

“T-Thank you ma’am,” She looked at her brother before sighing. “Roy. We need to talk.”

“About what?” He asked slowly and Marcos wiped his face, knowing full well what Roy was about to be chewed out for.

“And you say I have no tact.” Alistair muttered his breath and Murray sighed, pretty much done with today.

.

* * *

 

.

“Huh…? What…”

“You’re awake.” Gethin blinked groggily as he woke up in Antonio’s lap and smelling the faint smell of smoke in the distance. Selene wasn’t looking impressed with him. “Good. We have a few things to discuss.”

“We do…?” Gethin blinked before what had happened registered. “Oh shit! The hou-”

“It’s salavable.” Antonio said as he helped Gethin get to a sitting position. “We’re probably not going to be able to get the deposit back.” Gethin sighed softly and looked at Selene.

“How long is the sentence going to be?” He asked, and Selene raised an eyebrow.

“You’re giving yourself up that easily?” He shrugged as Antonio looked at him. “Not even going to argue?”

“What’s the damn point if I do? I’d never see my son anyways.” He sighed. “I was foolish, reckless, and you’re right Antonio…” Antonio blinked in surprise.

“Gethin…”

“I went too far...I’ve gone too far…” He sighed. “He’d never want to see me anyways, even if I didn’t do that. Lillian probably made me seem like a monster so it would only make sense he’d never want to see me, even before the kidnapping.” He shrugged. “At least serving my sentence, I can provide some mild entertainment to the beginner demons.” Selene rolled her eyes.

“You’re not getting that punishment,” She said. “All things considered, your actions weren’t as...damning as they could have been. You will both probably serve jail time, but provided you don’t hinder the investigation, that should be the most you two will deal with.”

“And Dennis says orange isn’t my color,” Antonio attempted to joke and Gethin rolled his eyes.

“Mr. Ross is apologizing to Ruby for killing you.” Selene said, having read Gethin’s thoughts and the man looked at her in surprise. 

“Shouldn’t one of you been with him or whatever?” 

“He’s got a tracker.” Antonio said, shrugging.

“And we’re going to visit them as well.” Selene said, pulling the men to their feet. “I need to check on several individuals that are there. And, it wouldn’t hurt for Ruby to see that you’re not actually dead.” Gethin chuckled softly.

“She is a very adorable child...though rather pushy when she’s concerned about people…” He mused, a soft smile on his face; sure he had exploited her innocent nature to learn where Joshua had gone, but he couldn’t lie and say he didn’t end up enjoying her admittedly spontaneous visits.

“Well, hopefully she can help mediate between you and Lillian. She’s there, and what better way to get this situation handled then having you two finally talk.” Selene said simply and Gethin’s eyes widened as Antonio paled slightly.

“You can’t be-How would-”

“Tracker, Antonio. I use magical trackers.” Selene said simply as Gethin slumped, too tired emotionally and physically to keep up his normal bravado.

“We’re actually going to die today…”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of talking about feelings

“Ow! Hey! What gives?!” Roy yelped as Cordelia dragged him out of the living room and into a side room. She had a look of determination plastered across her face, which usually meant bad things for Roy.

“We need to talk.” She said, closing the door behind him.

“Why?” Roy rubbed his wrist. For someone so small, Cordelia had a surprisingly strong grip. He’d never understood how she’d gotten that strong. It wasn’t like she did that much physical labor.

“Because Chris is really upset and it’s your fault.” She put her hands on her hips, looking very much like their mother had when she’d been angry.

“My…fault?” Roy’s eyes widened a bit. “What…Why? What did I do?” His normally stoic expression cracked at the idea that he’d somehow upset someone he cared about.

“He thinks that you don’t care about him because you didn’t tell him Alistair was a demon.”

“I-I thought he knew! It seemed like _everyone_ knew.” Roy began to wring his hands.

“Well, he didn’t.” Cordelia folded her arms. “And now he thinks you don’t like or trust him.” Roy began to pace, continuing to wring his hands. He’d gone through a period where he’d picked at his cuticles, but both he and Cordelia had agreed that this wasn’t a good habit and had both worked to rid themselves of it. His thoughts were currently on a loop of self-deprecation at this point. Why hadn’t he told Chris? He should have told him. Oh, gods. What if Chris didn’t want to be his friend anymore because of this?

“Also, I think he likes you,” Cordelia added.

“Of course he likes me,” Roy said. “We’re friends. But…He might not want to be friends anymore.” Cordelia sighed heavily, clasping her hands together.

“I mean romantically.” She clarified. “I think he likes you romantically. Judging from his reaction, at least.”

Roy stopped, slowly looking back at his sister. “What?”

“He likes you. Romantically.” Cordelia repeated. Roy blinked, staring blankly at her.

“Roy, I love you, but you are so fucking dense sometimes.”

“Says the girl who didn’t realize someone was flirting with her until someone pointed it out.” Roy snapped.

“That was one time!” Cordelia sputtered, her face going red. “A-And that’s not the point! The point is that Chris likes you as more than a friend and you need to go talk to him.”

“But…He has…He has Marcos and Rosanna.” Roy began to wring his hands again. “He already has partners.” He’d assumed that Chis was off the market as soon as he’d been brought to meet Marcos and Rosanna. They all parented Ruby together. They all had to be partners, right? So there was no way Roy had a chance. He’d been jealous, yes, but he didn’t want to ruin Chris’ happiness.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Cordelia said. Her voice softened a bit and she took Roy’s hands in hers, calming him. “He’s really upset about this. You should talk to him.”

“But…What if he doesn’t want to talk to me?” Roy’s voice was small. “What if he hates me?” Roy always balked at emotional relationships with anyone but Cordelia, especially since the accident. The thought of screwing up and driving the people he loved away terrified him. When it came to these sorts of conversations, he preferred to turn tail and run. It was easier that way. It saved him the heartache. When their parents had still been alive, they’d tried to help him with this, but it had been their deaths that had forced him to stop isolating himself.

“He’s not going to hate you,” Cordelia reassured him, reaching up to gently pat his face. “Although, he might if you just run away and don’t talk to him. Communication is important, you know.”

“Did you learn that in therapy?” Roy managed a weak smile. It was a rhetorical question, as they’d **both** learned that lesson in therapy.

“Of course!” Cordelia returned his weak smile with one of her own, which instantly made Roy feel better. She had such a lovely smile.

He laughed softly, patting her head. “You know, I’m supposed to be the big sibling here. When did you get so mature?”

“There’s no shame in needing help,” Cordelia said, wrapping her arms around him. Roy took a shaking breath, feeling tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He allowed himself to be hugged for a few minutes before gently pushing Cordelia away.

“It’ll be okay,” Cordelia said again. “He won’t hate you.”

“If…If you say so.” Roy nodded tentatively. Cordelia gave him another big smile before going and opening the door, disappearing out to go find turn her attention to the other two idiots in the house. Roy watched her go. It would be so easy to just run away right then. He could face the consequences later. But no. Cordelia would absolutely rip into him if he did that.

So, he took a deep breath and went to find Chris. He was still in the kitchen with Rosanna, Joshua, and Ruby. Roy almost froze in the doorway. He could still run away. They hadn’t noticed him. He didn’t have to do this. Then Ruby turned back and her face lit up.

“Mr. Roy!” She ran over and hugged his legs. Rosanna, Chris, and Joshua all turned to face him. Rosanna and Joshua exchanged a look, while Chris tried to quickly avert his attention.

“Hey…kiddo.” Roy stiffened a bit now that the attention was on him.

“Mama said Miss Bell was gonna lay down the hammer of the Bell family.” Ruby looked up at him. “Did she?”

“She sure did.” Roy couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you mind if I borrow your dad for a minute?”

“Are you gonna talk about your feelings?” Ruby asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, we are.” Roy looked up at Chris, who was still avoiding his gaze. Rosanna gently pushed Chris forward.

“We’ll be here when you get back.” She said. Chris glanced back at her, then at Roy.

“Go on.” Joshua nudged him as well. “I’m pretty sure you need this.” Ruby turned back to her father, putting a hand on his leg.

“You gotta talk about your feelings, daddy.” She nodded solemnly. Chris couldn’t help but laugh as well at her earnest sincerity.

“I know.” He said. “And we will.” Roy stepped back a bit, allowing Chris through, and the two headed for the backyard. They walked in silence, both awkward and unsure. Even once they were alone, the door closed, they weren’t entirely sure how to begin.

“I…I’m sorry.” Roy finally said. “I should have told you Ainsley was a demon before letting him watch Ruby. It was wrong of me to assume that you knew.”

“It’s fine-” Chris started to say before Roy cut him off.

“No, it’s not. That was something I should have told you. It wasn’t right of me not to.” He began to wring his hands once more. “Look…I, um, I really like you. A lot. So, I really don’t want to screw things up between us. And Dee said that…Maybe…You like me too?” His eyes darted all around the backyard, landing on everything but Chris. “So, um, I’m sorry. And, uh, I think you’re…really amazing.” Gods, he was just word vomiting at this point. He didn’t remember confessing his feelings being this difficult before. Then again, he’d only done it twice before. He closed his eyes and silently prayed for death.

.

Meanwhile, in the house, Cordelia had swooped into the living room, grabbed Alistair and Murray by their collars, and pulled them into another room. Both men were too surprised and stunned to protest, especially since Cordelia had managed to physically drag them away.

“Alright losers,” she announced, closing the door. “It’s time to talk about your feelings.”

“Oh, fuck me.” Alistair groaned.

“Miss Bell, I’m not sure this is the best time,” Murray said.

“It’s time to talk about your feelings,” Cordelia repeated, folding her arms. “I’m on a roll right now. I just did Roy and now I’m doing you two. Because you’ve got stuff to talk about.”

“We do not.” Alistair folded his arms.

Cordelia raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Mm-hm.”

“We don’t have anything to talk about.” Murray insisted.

“Well, I certainly have some questions.” Cordelia sat down in front of them, gesturing for them to do the same. The two men exchanged a glance before tentatively following her example

“What **is** your relationship?” She asked. “From what I’ve heard and seen, it sounds like you have history, but I can’t tell if you’re dating or what.”

“I mean, we’re basically dating at this point.” Murray sighed. “That or I’m his babysitter.”

“I resent that statement.” Alistair hunched his shoulders. “I have been alive for centuries! I do not need a babysitter!” Murray turned to give him a weary look. Alistair went a bit red, looking away and grumbling.

“You don’t seem very happy to be dating him.” Cordelia steepled her fingers. “I’m at least of the mindset that you should **_like_** the person you’re dating.”

“You like me, don’t you, Murray?” Alistair leaned on Murray with a smile. It looked surprisingly sweet.

“That’s…complicated,” Murray said slowly, starting to absentmindedly run his fingers through Alistair’s hair. It was getting a bit long now.

“I guess it would be with a demon.” Cordelia laughed.

“How is it complicated?” Alistair asked, leaning instinctually into Murray’s touch. “You either enjoy my company or you don’t.”

“Our interactions in the past haven’t exactly been healthy. You know that, right?” Irritation flashed across Murray’s features.

“I think it was fine.”

“You would.” Murray rolled his eyes.

“What do you mean, your interactions haven’t exactly been healthy?” Cordelia asked. She was resisting the urge to scooch closer in interest. She felt a little guilty that she found their relationship so interesting. But Murray was magic! And Alistair was a demon! She read stories about this sort of thing! And maybe she’d made up a few of her own when she’d been younger, of a human selflessly saving a demon through their love. This didn’t seem so selfless, though.

“He was a demon,” Murray replied. “His job was basically to make me do bad things. He was like my little shoulder devil.”

“Oh, I can’t take credit for all your bad ideas.” Alistair snickered. “You came up with quite a few on your own.” Murray rolled his eyes again. Alistair was sprawled in his lap at this point while Murray sort of petted him.

“So he was an enabler?” Cordelia concluded.

“More or less, yeah.” Murray shrugged, glancing down at Alistair.

It was strange to see the way the demon wore the body of Alistair Ainsley. Murray had wondered before if the demon he was so close with had an actual form. In his mind, they’d appeared as his perfect man, it didn’t seem as though they had a defined gender. He’d learned how to recognize them by their mannerisms, the way they spoke to him. Despite himself, he was fond of the creature who called themselves Alistair. Sure, Alistair could be a little shit, but he’d always been there for him. He’d been the only person there for Murray in the darkest time of his life. The demon had been there supporting him throughout everything.  He owed it to him to support him now and teach him how to be a semi-normal human.

“Do you like Murray?” Cordelia turned her gaze to the former demon as well.

“Of course!” Alistair smiled. “He’s one of the most interesting humans I’ve ever met!” His smile was probably supposed to be genuine, but it came across as insincere due to his…everything.

“But do you like being around him?” Cordelia asked. “Do you have _feelings_ for him?” Alistair bristled a bit at the use of the word ‘feelings’.

“I fail to see how that is any of your business.” He sneered.

“Be nice,” Murray replied on instinct.

“If you want me to leave, I can.” Cordelia started to get up. “But you both need to promise you’ll _actually_ talk about your feelings with each other.”

“I make no promises.” Alistair narrowed his eyes.

“We’ll talk,” Murray assured her. Satisfied with this answer, Cordelia left the room.

“What a troublesome girl,” Alistair grumbled, snuggling closer to Murray like a disgruntled cat. “I despise people like her. Always sticking their nose in other people’s business.”

“She’s just trying to help.” Murray kept stroking Alistair’s hair with one hand while he moved the other to pat his back.

“It’s none of her business,” Alistair muttered, his eyes fluttering shut. Murray sighed, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“We do need to talk. About us.”

“Mm.” Alistair shifted so he could get more comfortable in Murray’s lap. “You said we were dating?”

“Do you not want to be?” For a moment, Murray’s heart was in his throat. He’d been in quite a lot of situations where he was more invested in a relationship than someone else was. He’d been told that he was too clingy more times than he would have liked. Would this be one of those situations? Was he about to be rejected by a **demon**?

“No. I…Rather like the idea.” Alistair allowed himself a smile. “You know, I’m honestly a bit surprised you didn’t kick me to the curb as soon as I no longer had any power.” His eyes suddenly snapped open. Why had he said that? The thought had crossed his mind more than once, but he hadn’t given it any credence. It was ridiculous! Why would Murray abandon _him_?

“I wouldn’t abandon you.” Murray’s expression softened. “I mean, you’re a pain in the ass, but…” He hesitated, brushing some hair out of Alistair’s face. “You were there for me when no one else was. And it’s not like you’ve got anyone else.”

“I was using you. You understand that, don’t you?” Alistair didn’t understand why his stomach churned at the thought of what he’d done to Murray. These things had never bothered him before. Most of what he’d done still didn’t bother him. Mostly. Okay, maybe they were starting to get to him. Curse these human feelings.

“I do. But you were still there.” Murray laughed, sounding extremely tired. “My standards are pretty low, I know. Still, you were there when no one else was. So I’m gonna be there for you.” He leaned down to kiss Alistair’s cheek. “We’re pretty much stuck with each other.”

Alistair sat there for a moment, a strange fluttering feeling beginning in his stomach.

“Why does my face feel warm?” He asked, touching his reddening cheeks. “Am I dying? Is this what death feels like?”

“Gods, you’re hopeless.” Murray laughed again, much stronger this time. Alistair muttered something that was probably rude, covering his face.

“I despise you.” He said. “You are insufferable.”

“I love you too,” Murray replied. The fluttering feeling in Alistair’s stomach got even worse, also joined by warmth in the area where he thought his heart might be. Why were feelings so complicated?


	14. Chapter 14

...

“Roy,” Chris was admittedly jumping for joy mentally; _Roy_ actually liked him more than just friends! Roy thought he was amazing! He struggled to keep himself calm. “I-I-Thank you, I think you’re amazing too-I mean, I love you! And I want you to be part of my life more than a friend!!” Roy looked at him in surprise.

“W-What!? B-But Chris, y-you have M-Marcos and Rosanna...I-I can’t intrude on that…” Chris’s blinked slowly before he started to laugh. “C-Chris?”

“Marcos, Rosanna, and I aren’t a thing,” He managed out, in between his laughter. “I mean, yeah, we’re co-raising Ruby, but we’re not attracted to each other like that…”

“But-”

“Dude, Marcos’s like a brother to me,” Chris explained, taking Roy’s hands. “He and Rosanna wanted to have a kid, but professional surrogates aren’t cheap, and that’s the kind not related with the magic community…” He chuckled. “And I offered to help...and we thought that Ruby didn’t inherit any magic, so we figured it would be easier for her to grow up in the normal part of the world until she learned how to brush off people questioning her existence and the whole “I can make my fingers sparkle thus I am better than thou~” thing,” Chris said and Roy chuckled; man, was Chris cute when he was doing the dramatic acting. “You’ve been helping all of us, and I wanted to introduce you to Marcos and Rosanna so they’d know who heart Ruby stole ...and who stole mine…” Chris added softly, looking down at Roy’s hands in his own. Roy’s thoughts were running a mile a minute, trying to process what he should do. He looked at Chris before mentally saying ‘Fuck it’ and pulled him into a kiss.

.

* * *

 

.

“Haha, he did it.” Rosanna chuckled as she turned from the window. “They finally did it…”

“Did what Momma?” Ruby asked sweetly as Cordelia reentered the kitchen.

“Your dad and Roy finally got on the same page.” Joshua chuckled, ruffling her hair. Ruby giggled as there was a knock on the door and after a moment, the door was opened.

“Ms. Castel-”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Joshua raised an eyebrow.

“Why’s my mom here?” Rosanna shrugged.

“She said a bad word!” Ruby said, her frown too adorable for words.

“Well hello to you,” Joshua paled slightly as he heard the voice of Gethin as there was a long sigh from both Selene and Antonio before Ruby’s eyes lit up.

“W-Wait! That sounds like the robey man!” Ruby exclaimed and before her mother or Joshua could grab her, Ruby hurried to the living room, gasping as she saw Selene, Gethin, and Antonio. “M-Mr. Robey Man! Y-You’re ok!” Gethin smiled slightly as Antonio chuckled.

“Yeah, I’m alright, Little One. It was an illusion I made…”

“It wasn’t real?” Gethin nodded gently. “It looked really real though…”

“Well, I wanted to talk with Joshua, but Henry showed up and I really didn’t want to talk to him just yet.” Ruby giggled, covering her smile as Henry and Lillian glared at the cultist. “But I am certainly sorry for giving you a scare...and for tricking you into telling me where Joshua was…” Ruby nodded slowly as Lillian was unimpressed, crossing her arms, but the glare and low growl that Marcos gave both Henry and Lillian, kept their mouths shut as Gethin knelt to the girl’s eye level. “It was an awful thing for me to do and I realized that I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Well, Joshy’s ok now, so it’s ok.”

“Ruby,” Lillian started to say and Ruby spun on her heels, placing her hands on her hips.

“You said a bad word!” She exclaimed. “You’re not supposed to say that!”

“Ruby!” Marcos exclaimed as he picked up his daughter. “Sweetheart, you’re not supposed to chew out adults, even if they’re not supposed to say those words.” He shot a lidded look to Lillian who sighed.

“Well, excuse me for expressing shock at seeing the man who kidnapped my-”

“Mom?!” Lillian turned and saw her son as Joshua stepped out of the kitchen and saw the group of people. “What the…”

“Ah, Mr. Foster,” Selene said calmly. “Gethin and Antonio are being escorted by me as I check on the former demon and Mur-”

“What?!” Lillian’s face went a shade of red before turning to Henry. “You said that there wasn’t anything to be concerned about!”

“Hey! Joey had nothing to do with that guy!”

“And I’m also here to pick up Henry so we can get all the three idiots to the station.” Selene continued, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “If you are up to it, you can come with and we can dis-”

“No!” Lillian said. “He hasn’t done anything wrong! He doesn’t need to go down and he certainly doesn’t need to be anywhere near that-”

“I’m not deaf Lillie!” Gethin snapped back.

“It’s _Lillian_!” 

“Poppa, can we go back to the kitchen?” Ruby whispered and Marcos nodded.

“Of course Ruby. Let’s go help Momma with dinner as _they_ sort themselves out.” It was clear in his tone of voice that had it not been for the child in his arms, he would’ve kicked all of them out of the house. Selene sighed and turned to Lillian.

“I hate to be rude, but this is partially your fault.” Lillian opened her mouth. “I already know the issues between you two.” Lillian’s face flushed as Selene rolled her eyes. “And besides, Mr. Foster is a legal adult. He can do whatever he wishes.” Selene gestured to Joshua who rubbed the back of his head nervously as the attention was on him now.

“Honestly? I just want to have some time to process what the heck is going on...and hang out with my girlfriend…And sleep…” He admitted. “I mean no offense ma’am, I’d totally be willing to talk to you, but you know, it’s just a lot to take in.” Selene nodded.

“None taken.” She turned to Lillian and Henry and started to shoo them and Gethin into the office. “Now _we’re_ going to have some discussion about _all_ of your behaviors.” The door to the room slammed shut. Antonio sighed softly.

“I can help with dinner if you want,” Joshua sighed as he made his way to the kitchen.

“Sure, why not?” He muttered. “This day can’t get any weirder or worse.”


	15. Chapter 15

The mood in the office was incredibly tense. Gethin, Lillian, and Henry all sat facing each other while Selene watched expectantly, arms folded. None of them had said anything since sitting down. Selene could hear their thoughts jumbling in their minds. Thoughts of guilt, fear, anger. They all seemed on the verge of apologies but were too stubborn to make the first move. It was no wonder Joshua had turned out as stubborn as he had with parents like this.

“Someone say something or I’ll start telling you all exactly what’s **really** on your minds,” Selene said. All three adults stiffened. None of them were particularly eager to have their deepest thoughts spoken aloud.

“I’m sorry I tried to kill Gethin.” Henry blurted out. “I’m sorry I ran in without thinking. I’m sorry I traumatized Ruby. My behavior was irresponsible and I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. I am a grown man and I should act like it. I need to set a better example for the people around me.” His thoughts were filled with shame and regret, both from how he’d acted and the damage he’d caused to the people he cared about. He feared he was becoming just like Joey.

“To be fair, I did probably deserve it,” Gethin mumbled.

“You didn’t deserve to die.” Henry looked horrified by the idea that the other man would want death.

“Alright, maybe not death.” Gethin backed up a bit. “But I did deserve to get some sense beaten into me.”

“I think your friend saw to that,” Selene said. Antonio hadn’t been included in this since he had at least had the sense to try and stop his friend. Gethin nodded, his cheeks going a bit pink.

“I’m sorry I kidnapped Joshua.” He stared down at his lap. “I’m sorry I was such a…creep when it came to him and his upbringing. I should have respected your privacy, Lillian, as well as Joshua’s. I’m…also sorry I started a cult. That was…Not the best decision.”

“That’s a severe understatement, but I’ll take it.” Like with Henry, Selene could tell his guilt was genuine. She couldn’t help but wonder how he didn’t realize sooner that creating a cult wasn’t a good idea. The world cult didn’t exactly conjure up positive images. But that was beside the point. She could interrogate him about that later.

She turned her gaze to Lillian, the only person who hadn’t yet spoken. She was far from blameless in this whole affair. The magical community frowned upon marrying outside of their community, which Lillian had done. The more pressing matter, however, was the fact that she had told no one of her son’s abilities. She hadn’t even told Joshua of the power he held. Similarly, she had kept the possibility of her husband not being Joshua’s father to herself. She had kept more secrets than she should have, and that needed to be addressed.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Mrs. Foster?” Selene asked. Lillian tensed, avoiding eye contact with everyone present.

“I…I did what I had to so I could protect my son.” Her voice was quiet.

“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” Gethin said, which earned him a poisonous glare from Lillian.

“He has a point, unfortunately.” Selene kept her gaze squarely on Lillian. “You keeping secrets is what led to this whole mess. You didn’t tell anyone about your son’s powers, you didn’t tell your husband or your son that your husband might not be his father.” She decided not to add the part about marrying outside of the magical community for the moment. Jonathan Foster was dead. There was no need to drag the dead into this. She had standards.

“You didn’t even tell Joshua about his powers,” Henry added. Lillian was silent, clutching handfuls of her skirt so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

“You know how dangerous it is to be a Creator.” She whispered. “Those who don’t want to chop them up for spell components want to use them for their power. Everyone wants _something_ from them. I didn’t want that for my son. I didn’t want him to have to look over his shoulder all the time. I didn’t want people coming after him all the time. I didn’t want to lose him.” Her voice broke as she fought to hold back tears. “And then Jonathan died and I just…I couldn’t lose Joshua too. I couldn’t let anyone take him from me.”

Selene could feel her fear, her frustration. Like the others, she spoke the truth. Having someone who could reveal your deepest secrets did seem to compel one to answer without deception.

“Keeping secrets just makes things worse,” Henry said gently. Lillian just nodded. Her head was hanging now, in both shame and exhaustion.

“Well, I think we’re making some excellent progress here.” Selene smiled.

.

“Are you okay?” Cordelia asked, gently putting a hand on Joshua’s shoulder. The two of them had been tasked with cutting vegetables. There were a lot of them in the kitchen now, so it was a bit cramped. Cordelia tried to keep her voice down.

“Honestly? No. No, I’m not.” Joshua sighed.

“That’s fair.” Cordelia laughed tiredly. “This is a lot.”

“Yeah.” Joshua sighed again. “I just…I wish she’d told me.”

“About the cult guy or your powers?” Cordelia handed him a few more vegetables.

“Both,” Joshua muttered, his chopping getting faster. “I’d rather have found out from her than from getting kidnapped and having some fucking demon show up at my house.”

“She probably had her reasons,” Cordelia began, only for Joshua to abruptly look up with fury in his eyes.

“ ** _But,_** ” She held up a finger to show she wasn’t done. “That doesn’t make it any better. She caused you a lot of pain by keeping all this a secret.”

Joshua turned his attention back to the vegetables on the cutting board. “Yeah. She did.”

“It’s hard, realizing your parents are just people too.” Cordelia pursed her lips. Joshua nodded. The only sound between the two of them was the rhythmic sound of Joshua’s knife on the cutting board and the running water as Cordelia washed the vegetables.

“Uncle Joshy!” Ruby suddenly came running over, holding a large spoon in her hands.

“Yes, Ruby?” Joshua put the knife down, kneeling so he was eye level with the little girl.

“Taste this!” She held the spoon out to him. “Mama wants to know if it needs more spice!” Cordelia and Joshua both smiled at her enthusiasm. Leave it to Ruby to lighten the mood when things seemed at their darkest. Joshua took the spoon and sipped at the sauce.

“Mm.” He narrowed his eyes in thought. “It could use a bit more heat.” Ruby nodded, her face screwed up in adorable determination as she ran back to her mother.

“She’s just the cutest thing.” Cordelia giggled.

“You’d make a great teacher.” Joshua stood up, smiling back at her. “You’re pretty good with kids.”

“Maybe you two will end up having one of your own at some point,” Antonio remarked. There were too many people in the kitchen, so he’d just sort of been pushed to the side. He’d been standing in the corner for quite a while.

“What?!” Cordelia squeaked at the same time as Joshua yelled,

“Excuse me?!”

All eyes turned to them. Both were bright red and looked about ready to yell again. Antonio just looked confused.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“You can’t just say things like that!” Joshua snapped.

“Say things like what?” Chris asked as he and Roy reentered the house.

“He was saying that she’s good with kids and I said that maybe they’ll have one of their own at some point,” Antonio said, pointing to Cordelia and Joshua.

“We’re not at that stage in our relationship yet!” Cordelia began to gesture frantically. “We haven’t talked about that.” Roy narrowed his eyes, watching Antonio.

“It’s a bit early for that, don’t you think?” He said. He would fully support the two of them should they decide to have children, but the idea of it at this point made them both uncomfortable.

“Sorry.” Antonio put his hands up. “I didn’t mean to offend.”

“Maybe think before you say things like that,” Chris suggested.

“Right. Of course.” Antonio backed up a bit, pressing himself deeper into his corner. Slowly, everyone else returned to the dinner preparations. Joshua and Cordelia kept glancing at each other, both still red-faced and jittery. Maybe they’d talk about that later.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning that there is a slight moment of implied attempted self harm/suicide in this chapter, but it's very brief.

...

“How’s Mr. Drew?” Daniel asked as he was let into the Klein household, spotting Joey on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket and looking very confused as Isaac was talking about the comic book in his hands. “Ah, Mr. Drew! How are you feeling?” 

“Confused admittedly…” Joey said sheepishly. “Isaac is explaining to me about Miles Murphy?” Isaac sighed as Rachel snickered, hiding behind her book. “And well...it kind of feels like I’m missing several years…” Daniel nodded sadly and sat across from the man.

“Well, I can explain that, but you’re probably not going to like it…” Daniel gestured for Esther to sit next to her brother.

“Should we go upstairs?” Isaac asked and Daniel shook his head. 

“Nah, it’s better for everybody to know.” Daniel said simply and after sighing he looked at Joey. “We have figured out how much control Mr. Hill had over you, and safe to say, you will be under some probation for some time, but you were not in complete control of yourself.” Joey paled.

“B-But, t-that means-”

“You did not willingly kill Henry’s wife or child. It was Murray Hill.”

.

* * *

.

_“Joey! Put that down!”_

_“M-Murray, I can’t go through with this any-”_

_“Joey. Put. It. Down. Don’t you want to have Henry become a Creator?”_

_“Yes, but this is going too-” Murray sighed before uttering a spell and Joey slumped, dropping the knife._

_“Tch, hate to have to do this to you Joey. But I’m not abandoning this project. I will make a Creator, with or without your willing help.” Murray scoffed slightly before smirking maliciously. "Now all we need is Henry's wife and child to come to the studio..."_

.

* * *

 

.

“Something smells.” Alistair noted as he and Murray walked over to the kitchen. Ruby beamed brightly and held up the spoon.

“Try it!” She said excitedly. “It’s almost done, with the right amount of spice!” With some gentle goading from Murray, Alistair sipped at the sauce before his face contorted and he started coughing. “Alistair?”

“It’s burning!” He managed out, fanning his face and Murray started to chuckle. 

“It’s probably a bit too spicy for you,” Murray chuckled. “The original Alistair didn’t particularly like spicy food…” The former demon whined in annoyance.

“It’s not that spicy.” Joshua said. “Unless of course he’s the kind of guy who thought water was spicy.” Murray snorted as Ruby giggled and Alistair glared at him.

“That’s silly!” Ruby said. “Water’s not spicy at all!”

“I can tone it down if you’d like,” Rosanna offered and Alistair felt his face heat up. He huffed and crossed his arms.

“I can handle it.” He grumbled and Rosanna exchanged looks with Mrs. Hill, who hid her smile and went to fix the former demon a separate bowl. Suddenly the front door slammed open and Esther stormed in, followed by her family and Daniel.

“Mrs. Klein, please don’t! I am not trained in healing ma-” Murray made the mistake of stepping into the living room and got socked right across the face, sending him to the ground. “Gic…” The rest of those in the kitchen looked at Mrs. Hill to see her reaction, only to get a bemused hum.

“I was wondering when that would come out.” 

“What?” Joshua asked and Mrs. Hill looked at him casually.

“My son is rather infamous for his manipulation magic. If he gets it in his head, there’s nothing that’ll stop him.” She looked at her daughter. “Remember when you met that lovely young man in middle school and he thought that you were going to move out so he-” Stella groaned.

“Don’t remind me.” She muttered. “He’s only just started talking to me again.” Mrs. Hill chuckled softly.

“And considering the rarity of Creators, he probably-”

“Let’s not go there.” Marcos said simply, subtling gesturing to his daughter looking very frightened and holding Alistair’s leg and the very pale look on Joshua’s face.

“Ah, right, my apologizes…” She said before making a face. “Though it would make sense that the magic would dissipate now…Magic does tend to be finicky when two users’ magic interact...I have heard that it can reverse curses, even those self-inflicted, and-”

“ _Anyways_ , let’s go make sure that I don’t have to hire a cleaner.” He quickly walked into the living room, where Daniel was holding Esther back as Murray was slowly getting back to his feet, and Selene was entering the living room, followed by the other three adults. 

“Can to explain what’s going on Mr. Hill?” Murray shot a lidded look at the woman.

“I don’t know! She just pun….” Murray’s face paled. “No…”

“Ah, I see you remember,” Selene said simply, earning looks of confusion from the three adults behind her. “Gethin, you probably should hold back Henry, if what happened with your illusion was an indication, I don’t want to have to write another murder report, even if he did deserve it.”

“W-What?”


	17. Chapter 17

...

“W-What?” Henry managed slowly as the adults behind Selene stared at her in confusion and horror.

“Ms. Castelia, what are you talking about?” Gethin asked slowly as Murray started to curl up in himself, the memories of the past flooding his mind, the horrific realization of what he had done now without any doubt. “I know Mr. Hill has had a few brushes with the law, but did you forget that I kidnapped a man? And his fiance?” There was a squeak of embarrassment from the kitchen, Cordelia no doubt hearing that as Selene rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure I’m-”

“Did you murder a man’s child and her mother and frame the man’s best friend?” Gethin’s jaw dropped as Henry looked at the woman in horror.

“W-What?” Joshua asked slowly, coming out of the kitchen. “What are you talking about? Joey...did it… Joey said he was the reason Linda and Mrs. Ross died…” 

“Mr. Hill is known for his manipulation magic.” Selene said simply and Joshua turned to Murray, the older man not looking at the younger man. “He was unaware that you were a Creator and wished to make a Creator. And he believed that Henry was the best candidate.”

“Murray’s talents aren’t _that_ skilled to overpower a woman and her child, especially those two.” Alistair pointed out. “And those two, even in death, are far stronger than they let on. Besides, how-” Alistair paled slightly, a nervous laugh escaping his mouth as he realized what Murray did. “Oh...oh…huh...”

“What?” Ruby asked innocently, looking between the adults in confusion. “What did he do?” She pulled on Alistair’s arm. “Alistair, why do you look so sad? What’s going on?”

“Sweetheart, let’s go to your playroom.” Chris said, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “I think there’s gonna be a lot of yelling in a sec…” Ruby looked back at her father as Alistair picked her up.

“Let’s go.” He said and followed Chris to the playroom as Mrs. Hill crossed her arms, looking at her son.

“Murray, what did you _do_?”

.

* * *

.

_Henry groaned as he opened his eyes and saw that he was in the hospital, the beeping echoing throughout the room._

_“W-What…”_

_“Ah, Mr. Ross.” Henry turned to see a doctor looking over him. “You’re finally awake.”_

_“Wha...what happened?”_

_“There...was an accident near the studio…I’m sorry...”_

.

* * *

.

“Daddy, what’s going on?”

“I dunno,” Chris admitted as they entered the playroom. “But I think there’s gonna be some yelling, or magical fireballs, so we probably should duck and cover.” Ruby giggled a bit as Chris tapped her nose and Alistair smiled slightly.

“They’ll get it sorted out, and then we’ll make them clean up their mess the normal way, like how that yelly guy is...Wally?”

“Mr. Franks isn’t _that_ yelly!” Ruby argued. “He just likes to call it like he sees it!” Chris snorted. “What Daddy?”

“I dunno sweetheart, I mean, you’ve seen how many times Wally makes the Borises do his job when he thinks nobody is looking,” Ruby giggled as Alistair made a face.

“He yells about he will get out of here if something he likes doesn’t happen.”

“Nooo, he says he’s outta here!” Ruby laughed and started talking about the janitor, thankfully distracting her about the storm looming in the living regarding the truth of what happened to Henry’s wife and child.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This does have some body horror in it

Everyone stared at Murray Hill, curled up in the fetal position on the floor. Henry’s anger was beginning to flare up again. Murray Hill had not only killed his wife and child, but he’d also erased his memories of the incident and pinned the blame on Joey. He’d tried to run away and erase his involvement. Henry had thought he’d come to terms with his feelings on the death of his family. But knowing that the blame had been unfairly pinned on his friend, and his family’s true killer had been right under his nose the entire time? It was dragging up quite a long of anger.

“So, he’s…responsible?” He said slowly. His face was neutral, but everyone present could feel the fury radiating off of him. Gethin awkwardly put a hand on Henry’s shoulder. For once, it was not shrugged off.

“It does look that way.” Daniel nodded.

“You stay the **fuck** out of my brother’s head,” Esther growled, leaning down to hoist Murray up by his shirt. Murray didn’t react, muttering to himself. His eyes were unfocused. Narrowing her eyes, Esther dropped him, retreating to stand beside Joey.

“I thought he was getting better.” Stella’s voice was small and defeated. She was chewing on her lip so hard it was starting to draw blood. She didn’t care. They’d been making progress. Her brother had been getting better. He’d been getting better. He had to be.

“What happened?” Joshua asked. He didn’t want to get close to Murray. Not now that he knew what the other man had done.

“I’m a bit curious as well.” Mrs. Hill agreed. “What has he done this time?” Murray winced.

_What has he done **this** time?_

He could feel the disdain in her voice. Or, he thought he could. The memories of all those nights he’d been dragged back home to his disapproving parents. They would open the door, both of them tired and resigned. Always saying the same thing,

_What has he done this time?_

He was a failure. They’d long since given up on him. He knew they had. They’d decided he was a troublemaker and nothing more. Why even try to help him? The only magic he was any good at was illusion magic, a far cry from his sister’s exorcism powers. He was a pathetic puppeteer who hid behind his puppets.

“He killed my wife and my daughter and blamed it on Joey.” Henry kept staring at Murray. Joey, to his credit, had been silent the entire time. He’d convinced himself that he was responsible. Sure, he didn’t remember it, but Murray had said it had been him. Everyone else had said it had been him. The ghosts of the dead couldn’t have been wrong, could they?

“Wait, so **he** killed Mrs. Ross and Linda?” Joshua took a step toward Murray, his own anger beginning to flare up. Like Henry, part of his anger came from Murray’s attempt to divert the blame and cover up his crimes.

“Oh, Murray.” Mrs. Hill sighed. To everyone else in the room, she sounded tired and distraught. To Murray, she sounded disdainful and cruel. Perhaps he was simply biased, though. His relationship with his mother wasn’t exactly the best as of late.

“That is…quite something.” Gethin pursed his lips. Even his stomach churned at the thought of killing a child. All eyes were on Murray, curled up in a ball on the ground.

“What…What did he do?” Cordelia emerged from the kitchen, wringing her hands. “Everyone’s been so sure it was Joey. If it wasn’t him…How was everyone so sure?” She moved to take Joshua’s hand, gently pulling him back a bit.

“Why don’t you explain, Mr. Hill?” Selene already knew the answer. She’d seen it cross his mind. The fact that he’d performed that spell and come out relatively unscathed was a minor miracle. That sort of magic was incredibly dangerous.

Murray stirred, sitting up. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“We have to.” Stella sat down in front of him. The weary look on her face was enough to make him want to run away. She looked so disappointed. Had she really had that much faith in him? Why? Hadn’t she seen how many times he’d let them all down? He was a worthless failure.

“Come on, Mr. Hill. Out with it.” There was a bit of testiness in Selene’s voice. She could only tolerate his thoughts of self-pity for so long. Murray winced again.

“Very…Very well.” He murmured. “This…This is what happened.”

.

_Murray left Joey on the floor, going to the telephone. He knew the number to Henry’s house by this point, easily putting in the digits and waiting for Maria to pick up. While he waited, he drew a sigil in the air and pressed it into his throat._

_“Testing, testing.” He murmured to himself, his voice coming out a perfect copy of Joey’s. There._

_“Hello?” Maria’s voice came on the other end. Murray took a deep breath. He had to do this just right. He couldn’t let her suspect that she wasn’t speaking to Joey._

_“Hey, Maria.” He tried to sound as jovial as possible. “Are you busy right now?’_

_“Not at the moment,” Maria replied slowly. “Why?” She was suspicious. Why wouldn’t she be? Joey didn’t normally call out of the blue like this._

_“Henry’s got something he wants to show you and Linda at the studio. Do you think you could swing by?” He smiled wide, despite Maria not being able to see him. If he smiled, he could make himself sound happier._

_“I don’t know, Joey. Can’t it wait?” She sighed. At least she seemed to believe she was speaking to Joey._

_“I mean, it **could**.” He said. “But he’s really excited about this. The only reason he didn’t call you himself was because he’s still knee-deep in it.”_

_“Well…” Maria hesitated. He could hear Linda on the other end, saying something to her mother._

_“Alright.” Maria finally said. “We’ll be over in a few minutes.”_

_“I’ll see you soon.” Murray glanced at Joey, still unconscious on the floor. Once she hung up, he knelt beside Joey’s unconscious body. He took the knife, unbuttoning Joey’s shirt to expose his chest._

_“I’m sorry in advance.” He said before cutting into Joey’s flesh. The spell ensured Joey would remain unconscious, although it did nothing to dull the pain. Joey whimpered as the knife sunk into his chest. It was just a shallow cut. Just enough to draw blood._

_Murray’s heart pounded in his chest. He’d never performed this type of spell before. Blood magic was dangerous and highly volatile. But he needed to do this. He needed to make a Creator. If he made a Creator, everyone would be forced to acknowledge that he was someone to be respected. His parents wouldn’t be disappointed in him anymore. They would praise him for being able to make a Creator. Natural born Creators were hard enough to come by. Forged Creators were almost nonexistent. If he could do this…If he could do this he would be hailed by the entire magical community. The ends justified the means._

_He cut his hand and placed it on Joey’s chest, beginning the incantation as their blood mingled. An uncomfortable pins and needles sensation spread across his body before it was replaced by excruciating pain. He fell to the ground screaming. His bones ground against one another, his skin stretching, his muscles aching as they contracted. Every part of his body was being reformed to match the man whose blood he had let into his veins. To him, the transformation seemed to last forever. In reality, it only lasted a few minutes. He lay there gasping for a moment or two, then cautiously opened one eye. He was greeted by a pale, freckled hand. Joey’s hand. He sat up, looking over his body. He’d done it. The spell had worked. He was now physically identical to Joey, even down to his magic signature. No one would know the difference between them. Not even an experienced magic-user._

_“I’m sorry about this, Joey.” He said, getting up. “But it’s for the best. I’m going to make our dreams come true.” He found some clothes of Joey’s and put them on before departing. He had a job to do._

.

When Murray finished speaking, the entire living room was deathly silent. Whether from horror, shock, or disgust, it didn’t matter. No one knew what to say.

“What…What on Earth were you thinking?” Mrs. Hill asked. Her voice was soft, but it quickly grew in volume as her anger built. “What on Earth went through your mind to justify this?! You put multiple people in danger, murdered two, and then tried to cover it all up with your magic! I am offended that any child of mine would have this much flagrant disrespect for the principles that govern our society!”

“I know.” Murray nodded. He looked utterly defeated. Both Joshua and Henry looked on the verge of tearing Murray apart. There was no way out of this. He was well and truly screwed.

“And to stoop to blood magic!” Mrs. Hill began to pace the room. “You know how dangerous that kind of magic is! You could have killed yourself and Drew! I am very disappointed in you!”

“I know.” Murray kept staring at the ground. He'd imagined this conversation a million times in his head, but hearing the words actually come out of his mother's mouth still hurt.

Joey started wringing his shirt. So, he hadn’t killed Linda and Maria. That should have made him feel better. It didn’t, though. It was just one in a long list of crimes he’d committed. Crossing one off didn’t make the others go away.

.

Alistair couldn’t help but be a bit distracted. Although he’d agreed to participate in a board game to distract Ruby, his mind was on the confrontation happening downstairs. Murray had used blood magic to fool the dead women. Blood magic that he had learned from the demon who was now Alistair Ainsley. There was an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach at the thought that he had made this possible. Murray had made his own decisions, yes, but all the tricks he’d employed in this, all the dirty deeds and devious means, he’d learned from him. From Alistair. This was his fault. And he felt…

**_Guilty._ **

It wasn’t right. He wasn’t supposed to feel guilty. But he did. This was his fault. He had started Murray on this path. He had planted the seeds in his mind. He was responsible. And all he’d truly gotten was a slap on the wrist. Being stripped of his demonic power was nothing compared to the pain and suffering he’d indirectly caused. He deserved to be punished. He deserved to suffer. He-

“It’s your turn.” He was snapped back to reality as Chris nudged his shoulder.

“Right, uh, of course.” Alistair nodded. “What do I do?”

“You’ve gotta roll the dice!” Ruby said.

“Of course.” Alistair reached for the dice.

Well, nothing he could do right now. Might as well just wait things out. Wallowing in self-pity like this wasn’t like him.


	19. Chapter 19

....

“I can’t even-My gods where did we-” Mrs. Hill was pacing, struggling to complete the fluster of sentences, and not throttle her son. She wiped her face and groaned. “Murder, you committed freaking murder, for what?!” Murray didn’t say anything. 

“Murray, shut up.” Selene grumbled and Murray looked at her in momentary confusion.

“W-Wha-”

“Your self-pity party is giving me a headache.” Was the dry remark. “And while I’m sure that Rosanna and Marcos appeaciate you not cursing, Christopher is distracting Ruby in the other room, so please, there’s no need to not say what you’re really feeling Mrs. Hill.” The woman looked relieved as she looked at her son, disappointment obvious.

“Even if all the stars fucking alined and your created a Creator successfully, then what?!” Murray looked at his mother. “You know how dangerous it is for those with magical powers of that caliber! Did you forget the shit we had to deal with because of _your_ mind manipulation powers growing up?!” Mrs. Hill groaned loudly as a few of the eyes fell on her. “You never think of the consequences, Murray. I swear...At least when you were possessed, someone was keeping an eye on you and you didn’t do stupid shit like this!”

“Mother!” Stella exclaimed and Mrs. Hill gave her daughter a lidded glare.

“Stella, I’m done breaking my back and ruining my own life to bail out your brother. Every. Single. Time, I think we’ve gotten it through his head about the importance of responsibility and doing the right thing, he goes off and proves that he doesn’t listen nor care! Did it never occur to you _why_ you weren’t allowed to go out by yourself for years or why your father or I had to meet any of your friends before you could sleepover?” Mrs. Hill gestured to Murray. “Because of his skills, there were cults who wanted his ability to control others and if they took you or realized he had a sibling, we would have no choice but to listen to them!” Mrs. Hill was yelling at this point, years of pent up frustration exploding forth. “And if Murray had controlled your friends for any reason, we would’ve been ran out of the country!” Mrs. Hill let out a long sigh of defeat, her fists trembling. Selene looked over at Daniel, who came over and helped the woman outside. Once they were outside, Henry looked at Selene, obviously trying to remain calm.

“What now?” Henry demanded. “What’s going to happen now?”

“Why does it matter?” Joshua muttered. “Linda and Mrs. Ross aren’t coming back.” Cordelia gently squeezed his hand. “I still lost my best friend, I still got kidnapped _three_ times,” Lillian looked ready to murder both Henry and Murray as _that_ was revealed. “And apparently I’m never going to be able to do my own thing since apparently I can make shit out of nothing.”

“I mean technically anybody can with proper talents can create objects out of nothing, it’s the whole sentient…” Antonio started to say before trailing off before Marco whacked him upside the head. “Ow!” Gethin sighed softly as the werewolf rolled his eyes.

“You’re not helping the situation.” Marcos grumbled.

.

* * *

 

.

“I don’t get it, where did I go wrong?” Mrs. Hill sighed sadly, sitting on the back step. Daniel sighed softly. “I thought we taught him the right way...I was so proud that I didn’t listen to my parents and didn’t give him up to the council when we learned about his magic skills...It’s certainly not Creator-level of magic, but you know  that having a child that can control minds is...challenging,” Daniel snorted.

“I mean, I can see why it’s a bit difficult...though, I wish I had a friend like that in middle school!” He laughed. “I wouldn’t have been in trouble so much…” Mrs. Hill looked at him with the ‘mom look’. “I’m joking, I’m joking! Honest, Mrs. Hill, I’m just trying to be light hearted…” Mrs. Hill looked at him for a moment before sighing sadly.

“...I appreciate it, Daniel, I really do...I’m just…” She let out a long sigh. “I gave up quite a lot in raising Murray and I thought that I was doing the right thing...but I guess I was naive…”

“Mrs. Hill…”

“Mild scuffles with other students, minor mortal misdemeanors, joining some upstart cults...getting possessed by a demon, and now murder and blood magic…” She wiped her eyes. “What am I going to do, Daniel? I can’t keep going on like this...I just want…” She sniffed and dabbed her eyes. “Hell I don’t know anymore...I just...what did I do wrong…how did I fail being a mother _this_ poorly?!” She started breaking down into tears and Daniel sighed softly and patted the older woman on the back, unsure exactly how to comfort her.


	20. Chapter 20

After a few minutes, Alistair excused himself to go downstairs. He had to apologize to Mrs. Hill. He had set Murray down this path for his amusement. To see just how far he could push the boy. It had been in his nature as a demon to want to turn humans to sin. He’d wanted to see how far he could make Murray fall. He’d wanted to see that soul tarnished and despairing. He had taken advantage of a troubled young man and turned him into a monster. Guilt was gnawing at him and he rather didn’t like it. How did humans live with these feelings all the time? He’d only been a human for a little bit and he was already rather tired of it.

“How do you all stand this?” He muttered to himself, pressing a hand to his chest. That aching feeling was starting to get to him.

He snuck past the group gathered in the living room, doing his very best to avoid their attention. He was pretty sure he didn’t want to get yelled at right now. Murray did notice him but did nothing to signal his presence to anyone. They’d have to have a proper talk about this all later. He found Mrs. Hill on the back step with Daniel. They both seemed mostly calm, but that didn’t mean much. He knew this was likely rather hard for her. She’d seemed rather tired the few times he’d talked to while possessing Murray. And that had been before all the murder and manipulation.

He took a deep breath. He had to do this. He had to apologize. So, he opened the back door.

“Mrs. Hill?” Both Mrs. Hill and Daniel turned to face the former demon. He stood sheepishly in the back doorway, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

“Yes?” Mrs. Hill asked, unable to keep the weariness from her voice. Daniel watched Alistair intently, ready to step in at the first sign of trouble.

“I wanted to…apologize,” Alistair said.

“For what?”

“For setting Murray down this path.” He began to wring his hands, a habit he’d adopted from the original owner of the body. “I was the one who put many of these ideas in his head. I doubt he’d ben here if it wasn’t for me pushing him toward these options.” Mrs. Hill raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t expected an apology from the demon who had possessed her son’s body. He’d always struck her as the sort who never apologized for anything, plowing ahead with whatever he wanted to do regardless of the consequences.  Then again, she’d always regarded him as the more sensible one when it came to him and her son.

“You didn’t force him, did you?” She asked. Her voice shook a bit. Part of her hoped the answer would be yes, just so she’d have someone to blame. Someone other than herself.

Alistair blinked, clearly not having expected this reaction. “Pardon?”

“You didn’t force him to do any of these things, did you?” Mrs. Hill repeated.

“No. I…I suppose I didn’t.” He replied after a moment of thought.

“Then you have nothing to apologize for.” She smiled gently.

“But I-” He opened his mouth to protest, but Mrs. Hill cut him off.

“You may have put those ideas in his head, but you didn’t force him to act on them.” She said. “He chose to make the decisions he did. He has no one to blame but himself.”

“Well, I suppose you’re right.” Alistair conceded. “Still…This must be difficult for you.”

Mrs. Hill looked away, her lips twisting as she tried to fight back another wave of sobs. Daniel gently patted her back, still a bit unsure how to deal with this.

“It is.” Her voice was small. Tight. She wasn’t about to break into tears again, but she **was** still distraught.

“I suppose I can turn your words back on you.” Alistair ventured a tentative smile. “He chose to make the decisions he did. This is no one’s fault but his.”

“You don’t think I did something wrong?” Mrs. Hill asked. Hope registered in her features. She didn’t dare believe it was true, but she could hope.

“I think he’s right,” Daniel said. “Someone can have a loving family and a good upbringing and still do bad things and make bad decisions.”

“I’ve seen it before.” Alistair nodded grimly. “One of my superiors was a nobleman’s son. He had a very privileged upbringing, his parents loved him, he wanted for nothing. But when he was offered the chance to obtain demonic power, he happily killed his family.” He stopped, his face going a bit red. “My apologies. That’s probably not…appropriate conversation.”

“It’s alright.” Mrs. Hill assured him with a weary smile. “We’ve already been talking about far worse.”

“Fair enough.” Alistair laughed, more out of relief than anything else. He seemed to have defused the situation for now, but there was no guarantee as to how long that would last.

“Would you like for me to talk to him?” He asked after a moment or two of silence.

“Talk to him about what?” Mrs. Hill asked.

“About facing judgment by the Council.”

Both Mrs. Hill and Daniel’s eyes widened. Of all the things they’d expected to come out of his mouth, this was not one of them. Alistair blushed at the shock on their faces.

“Look, it’s clear that he’s made a mess of things,” He waved his hand in an attempt to direct attention off of himself. “And he needs to face the consequences this time. Which would be going before the Council. So, do you want me to talk to him about it?”

“That would certainly be helpful,” Daniel said. “If you’re offering, then sure.”

“Do you think you could really convince him?” Mrs. Hill looked hopeful again. It was guarded, of course. She didn’t dare let herself get too hopeful.

“If anyone could, it would be me.” Alistair allowed a bit of arrogance to enter his voice. “I shared a body with him, after all.”

There was a long period of silence as Mrs. Hill stared at Alistair. Her expression was blank. Alistair started to worry that he might have said the wrong thing. He was still working on this whole ‘being a nice person’ thing. He was still working on being a person in general. Then Mrs. Hill took his hands in hers.

“Thank you.” She whispered, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re, um, you’re welcome.” Alistair smiled awkwardly. He was getting a weird feeling in his stomach that he thought might have been pride. It was strange.

“I’ll try to convince him to face justice by the Council.” He said.

Once Mrs. Hill let him go, he went back inside. The group was still talking in the living room, no one looking particularly happy.

“Could I speak with Murray alone?” He asked. All eyes turned on him. Some of them still regarded him with suspicion, which was fair.

“Why do you want to talk to him?” Selene folded her arms and narrowed her eyes.

“I want to talk with him about giving himself up to the Council.”

Murray’s head snapped up at those words. He almost forgot to breathe for a moment. Everyone else seemed similarly shocked by this.

“You can read my mind. I’m serious.” Alistair spread his hands out, inviting Selene to do just that. Selene hesitated but did so. Alistair offered no resistance, putting up no walls.

“He means it,” Selene said after a moment or two.

“You’re really going to try and get him to face justice for what he did?” Cordelia asked, stepping protectively in front of Joshua.

“It’s not like it matters.” Joshua cast a poisonous glance toward the stunned Murray.

“It **does** matter.” Alistair insisted. “It won’t bring them back, I know, but he must learn that he cannot continue like this.”

“I thought you were on my side.” Murray drew into himself, looking and sounding rather pitiful. It was as though he’d regressed to the petulant teenage boy he’d been when he and Alistair had first met. Perhaps he’d never moved past that point. Perhaps being possessed had arrested his development somehow. Oh well, it hardly mattered.

Alistair knelt in front of him, cradling Murray’s face in his hands.

“I **am** on your side.” He said, his expression softening. “This isn’t good for you. You’re running yourself into the ground. And I…” He paused, his lips twisting. “I was the one to put you on this path.”

“He’s a big boy. He can make his own decisions.” Gethin’s lip curled up in a sneer. Antonio elbowed him in the ribs, silencing him. Both Henry and Lillian couldn’t help but snicker a little at this.

“Neither of us are happy, Murray.” Alistair continued. “We need to get better.”

“And you think…facing the Council would make me better?” Murray asked.

“You need to face your mistakes and move on.” Alistair rubbed his thumb gently across Murray’s cheek.

Murray went silent, considering Alistair’s words. His eyes flicked to the others in the room, all looking at him with mixtures of disdain and irritation. Maybe…Maybe if he did face justice, they would like him a bit more. Maybe he could redeem himself in their eyes. Maybe he could make his mother proud of him again.

“I…Alright.” He lowered his head. “I’ll do it.”

“You…You will?” Stella almost couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The demon she so hated had done what neither she nor her mother had managed in their years of begging.

“I’ll go to the Council,” Murray said.

“Well, that certainly makes things easier.” Selene wasn’t sure whether to smile or not. She wanted to assume this was some kind of trap. But the thoughts of the two men showed no deception.

Alistair helped Murray to his feet and the two of them faced Selene.

“We’re ready.”


	21. Chapter 21

...

“Hey man,” Joshua smiled as he came into the playroom, Ruby dozing off on her father’s lap. “Only heard mild yelling, so not as bad as expected?” Joshua shrugged.

“Murray’s gonna talk to some council people and I guess that’s good?” Chris shrugged.

“Only met a few of them twice…” Joshua looked at Chris. “Well, first time was when Marcos turned in my tattoo room during his appointment...you know, it’s not exactly normal when a guy turns into a wolf when he’s getting tatted!” He laughed and Joshua snorted. “And then I had to talk with them when Ruby was born, so they could have a note in case Ruby didn’t get any magic powers…” Chris trailed off with a sigh. “Lots of tradition and rules and stuff…man, the amount of times I had to tell them that no, I’m not interested in Rosanna or Marcos like that cause you’re not supposed to marry or be into a non-magical person and-Oh shit.” Both men immediately looked at Ruby who was thankfully out of it as Joshua and Chris looked at each other. “You got that magic shit that super rare...they’re going to want to watch you...”

“I mean they’ve got 20 plus years to catch up on, considering my mom thought she was being ‘helpful’.” Joshua snarked, though his face faltered as Chris sighed softly. “What’s up man?”

“Dude, if Dee doesn’t have any family remotely in the magical community, you’re completely and utterly fucked.” Joshua made a face.

“W-What are you talking about Chris?”

.

* * *

 

.

_“Who’s your friend Ruby?” Mrs. Hill asked gently as Ruby waved the person off._

_“That’s Daddy’s friend Mr. Joshy!” Ruby said brightly. “He works with Daddy at Drew World since the tattoo parlour isn’t open for a while.” Mrs Hill nodded slowly._

_“Huh...I didn’t know your father swung that way…” Ruby giggled._

_“No Mrs. Hill! Mr. Joshy isn’t dating Daddy! He’s dating Ms. Bell!” Ruby said excitedly. “Ms. Bell helps at the church by playing the piano!”_

_“Ooh, I know who you are talking about…” Mrs. Hill mused, smiling slightly. “She is a rather sweet girl...good thing she’s not part of the magic community,”_

_“Huh?” Mrs. Hill chuckled._

_“Well, if she was part of the community, she’d be swarmed by charming men who’d want to sweep her off her feet!” She tapped the child on the nose, earning giggles. “And you know how silly those boys can be when they’re showing off.”_

_“Oh yeah! One time there was a guy who tried to impress Momma cause he didn’t think she was married!” Mrs. Hill chuckled._

_“Oh really now? I hope you and Poppa set him straight.” Ruby shrieked with laughter._

_“Oh yeah! Poppa carried me over and hugged Momma and then as the guy ran off, he turned into his woof and chased him out of the yard!” Ruby barely managed out the ending part as she clutched her sides, laughing brightly. Mrs. Hill chuckled and ruffled the girl’s hair._

_“I can see why your fathers get along so well...two mischief makers in a pod…”_

.

* * *

 

.

“Don’t worry, Cordelia,” Rosanna said gently. “Things will work out,” She took the woman’s hands. 

“Mr. Foster can contact Daniel or I when he is ready to speak with us,” Selene offered gently, though it was obvious she was exhausted. “And as for Ruby’s little talent...well,”

“Mr. Hill and Mr. Ross are a bit more pressing.” Marcos offered and Selene nodded.

“Yes...that’s...ri-” Her phone buzzed and she took the call.

“WHAT?!” Joshua’s voice came from the playroom. “THAT’S FUCKING INSANE!” 

“What?” Henry asked slowly, looking between Daniel, Selene, and heck even Gethin and Antonio, for answers. Cordelia noticed that Lillian paled slightly and tried to slip into the background. “Why would he be yelling?” Daniel rubbed the back of his head.

“I mean Chris is a special case since he’s technically not part of the magical community, but…” Daniel trailed off and Gethin scoffed.

“So? The council doesn’t count friendships as a risk to the magical community,” Gethin argued and Cordelia paled as it registered what would’ve set Joshua off.

“Mrs. Foster.” Roy said firmly. “Is there anything else you should be telling us?” Lillian’s face went red with embarrassment as Joey finally spoke up.

“I mean, Ms. Bell did work for me, and I do vaguely recall blabbering on about us being family…” Joey offered as Henry looked even more confused.

“What’s going on?!” Joey looked at his friend and saw how _tired_ his best friend looked. “Why would it matter if Cordelia worked for you or not?”

“Henry, if Cordelia doesn’t have any connection to the magic community, she is not going to be allowed to stay with Joshua.”


	22. Chapter 22

“Excuse me?” Roy’s expression immediately darkened.

“It’s an old rule from centuries back,” Selene explained. “It was made to protect the magical community from persecution. You can’t kill what you don’t think is real.” The slaughter of magic users **had** been a huge problem in centuries past. But it hadn’t been a problem for quite a while now. Most outside of the magic community didn’t believe that it was real. They weren’t really in danger anymore.

“It was far more useful in the age of actual witch-hunts,” Alistair remarked with mild irritation. Murray elbowed him, although it was clear that he agreed.

“So…We’ll have to…break up?” Cordelia asked slowly. She was developing a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“If you have no connection, then yes.” Selene nodded. “That would be the best outcome.”

“The _best_ outcome?” Roy’s scowl darkened further. “What would the _worst_ outcome be?”

“The worst outcome would be having both your memories erased and being forced to relocate so you would never see anyone here again,” Gethin spoke up, keeping his eyes on the floor. “I’ve…I’ve seen it happen before. When they think the erasure won’t stick or that the magical party might go after the nonmagical one.” All eyes, especially Roy and Henry’s, fell on Lillian Foster.

“I didn’t think this would be a problem.” She said, hunching her shoulders. “I thought…I thought no one would find out about him. I thought he wouldn’t have to worry.”

“What’s done is done.” Henry sighed. He had more he wanted to say, but he was just so tired.

“That won’t happen to Esther, will it?” Joey asked quietly.

“I would certainly fucking hope not.” Esther folded her arms, leveling a defiant glare toward Selene. She really was Joey’s sister, wasn’t she?

“The Council tends not to separate family,” Selene reassured them. “It’s harder to sever the bonds that develop between family members. It tends to cause more problems than it fixes.” Besides, she was fairly certain that Esther would likely be able to break through whatever magic they put in place. Esther wasn’t magically talented, but she had a surprising knack for resisting it.

“Good.” Esther moved toward Joey, taking his hand. Joey clung to her on instinct. It was a bit terrifying for him to realize he’d been meddling in something he understood so little about. He could have gotten himself killed, or worse.

“So, if we can’t prove we’re magic, we just get our minds wiped and shipped away?” Roy asked. Everyone could feel the rage beginning to radiate from him. Thankfully, only Selene could hear his furious thoughts.

_It’s just the same as always._

_If you don’t fit in, they throw you away._

_Why did I think anything was ever going to change?_

_You can’t trust anyone._

“That’s the worst-case scenario,” Selene said.

“But it could still happen.” Roy countered. “If they don’t like us, they get rid of us. Like throwing away trash.” His lip curled up in a snarl.

“It’s…It’s alright.” Cordelia tried to calm him down, even as she held back tears. “I understand. It would be dangerous for me to stay with him. Someone could use me to get to him. It’s fine, Roy. Really.” She was trying to smile, trying to keep positive. But they could all see the tears welling up in her eyes and the way her lip was trembling and voice shaking.

“No. It’s not alright.” Roy said. His voice and expression softened a bit as he drew her close to him. Cordelia stiffened for a moment, still trying to keep herself calm.

“It’s not alright.” He repeated, leveling Selene and Lillian with a poisonous glare. He’d gotten better about the anger issues that had been caused by his accident. He’d gotten better about lashing out like an attack dog when his sister was threatened. But right now, he was finding it rather tempting to just throw all that progress out the window to destroy these people. He knew Cordelia would break up with Joshua. She would do it because she didn’t want him to get hurt. Because she put others above herself. Because she had convinced herself she wasn’t important.

**It’s better if I just let him go.**

**I’ll only bring him down.**

**He’s better off without me.**

“I don’t know what you want me to do,” Selene replied with a weary sigh. “The rule was instituted centuries ago. I don’t have the authority to change it.”

“Why aren’t friendships considered a risk?” Joey blurted out, mostly in an attempt to get the attention off the Bell siblings for a bit.

“That’s honestly a good question.” Daniel laughed weakly. “I guess they think friendships aren’t as intimate as a romantic relationship and thus there would be less leverage should someone try to get to the community member through said non-magic person.”

“Which is ridiculous,” Marcos muttered.

“It is.” Rosanna agreed. She was almost certain Chris was safe due to Ruby and her magic, but she was afraid of pushing the subject and having him and his daughter be separated.

“Don’t challenge them,” Murray said to Roy. He could see the wheels turning in the other man’s mind. “It won’t end well for you.”

“It’s alright, Roy.” Cordelia tried to reassure her brother, even as she sobbed into his chest.

Everyone in the room was uncomfortable with what they were seeing. Cordelia was just so sad. What made it worse was her continued insistence that she was fine even though she was crying so hard she could barely get any words out. Roy looked like he was contemplating murder while simultaneously trying to calm Cordelia down.

That was when Joshua came storming in, looking equally furious. Roy relaxed a bit, seeing he had a comrade in arms in this. One who was better able to contend with the magic people.

“Why the fuck did Chris just tell me I need to break up with Dee?!” He demanded.

“It’s a centuries-old rule.” Stella murmured. “Normal people aren’t allowed to date people in the magical community. They’re a…liability.” She’d been subject to that rule at least once, being forced to break up with a high school girlfriend of hers when her parents had realized the girl wasn’t a part of the community. It had hurt like Hell, but Stella had convinced herself it was for the best. Especially given who her brother was.

“That’s bullshit!” Joshua yelled.

“Logically speaking, it does make sense,” Antonio spoke up. “If someone tried to get to you through her, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself.”

“Look what happened at the house,” Gethin added, remembering how easily he’d overpowered her. The girl was powerless against magical forces.

“It’s dangerous for both of you to stay together.” Selene agreed.

“You don’t get to tell me who I can and can’t date.” Joshua snarled, narrowing his eyes. “I am an adult.”

“It’s for your safety-” Selene began to say, but Joshua cut her off.

“Bullshit!” He yelled. “I don’t need you dictating my life! I don’t even know you! You don’t get to decide what’s best for me!”

“Joshy, she’s just trying to help.” Lillian took a step toward him, reaching for his arm.

“Well, it’s **not** helping.” He jerked away. “This whole thing has been just one problem after another! What if I don’t want to be a ‘Creator’?! What if I just want to be normal?!”

“Joshy, it’s alright.” Cordelia tried to say again. “I don’t want to cause you this much trouble.”

“It’s not, Dee.” Joshua turned back to her, his expression softening. “If we break up, I don’t want it to be because other people told us to.” He took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I want us both to agree on it. And right now, I don’t want to break up.” Roy allowed himself a small smirk.

_I knew I liked this kid._

“But what about the rule?” Cordelia sniffled. “What about the Council?”

“Fuck them,” Joshua said. “They don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“I mean, they kind of do,” Stella said, immediately looking like she regretted saying it. “Everyone in the magical community is bound by their rules.”

“We need to maintain order somehow.” Selene waved a hand toward Murray.

“May I interject?” Everyone looked to Alistair, who had raised his hand politely.

“What?” Henry asked, fully prepared to hear some ridiculous hair-brained scheme. He was so tired. Everything was already so goddamn weird he didn’t think anything could shock him anymore.

“I think you should talk to the Council,” Alistair said, folding his arms. “We’re already going to them because of, well…” He gestured to Murray and the two former cult members. “I think it would be good for you to discuss this with those who hold the power in this situation.”

“And if they tell me that there’s nothing I can do?” Joshua raised an eyebrow.

Alistair smiled, a shadow of his former sinister personality surfacing. “You **are** a Creator. You have…options.”

No one in the room liked what he was suggesting. But it was a suggestion all the same.


	23. Chapter 23

…

“Well, if it isn’t the man of the hour himself.” A lavender haired mage cooed as a few other mages exchanged what might have been money behind the person as Joshua and Cordelia entered the room where a few of the council members were in, while Daniel and Selene were with the others, meeting the other council members. “We’ve been wanting to talk to you for _quite_ a while; I mean, the fireworks when your mother decided to skip town, hoo boy,” Joshua raised an eyebrow.

“What?” The mage looked at Joshua curiously.

“You didn’t know?” The mage cooed before turning behind them. “Sylvie! Guess who won the pool!” Joshua and Cordelia exchanged looks of confusion; maybe they should’ve waited till Selene and Daniel were done with Henry, cultists, Murray, and Alistair. The mage laughed brightly as they were called something unflattering in a magical tongue from a person behind them, before turning to the two. “Sorry, we’ve had a bet going on for years regarding Lillian,” They wiped a tear from their face. “She doesn’t particularly like the community, despite being from one of the higher-ranking families,” The mage waved their hand absently and leaned on the desk.

“Then how did she meet my dad?” Joshua asked dumbly and the mage chuckled. 

“Honestly? Probably dumb luck.” The mage waved their hand absently, as if shooing a fly. “But enough about her, you’re here for you, not your mother~” The mage smiled, sitting their head atop their folded hands. “Obviously you two are concerned about staying together, right?” Cordelia nodded. “Well, no need to worry, you’re fine.” Joshua and Cordelia looked at each other before looking at the mage.

“That’s it?”

“But don’t I need to-”

“If you weren’t part of the community in the first place, then Joey Drew and Murray Hill would have been dead before the amusement park ever opened.” The mage said deadpanned. “We take attempting magic spells very serious, _especially_ blood magic.” Cordelia blinked slowly as Joshua paled. “And before you ask, Chris’s situation is unique, so he and Roy would still be able to be together.”

“W-What?” The mage sighed.

“Admittedly your family member is a distant third cousin or something like that, but it still counts on paper. Sides, we don’t need to watch another pair of star-crossed lovers kick the bucket over something stupid.” Joshua frowned but before he could open his mouth, the mage leaned back in their chair. “We’re just going to have to have you two take some remedial magical classes and have you two check in with us every once and awhile, you know, so we make we have a note or two on the whole Creator thing.” The mage laughed. “We haven’t seen a Creator in a few centuries after all~”

“This seems too good to be true.”

“We’re not so old fashioned.” The mage said, shooting a deadpan glare to Joshua. “We are surprising flexible when things call for it. It’s just easier to maintain our power if people believe us to be steadfast and solid in the traditions. Even our officers are on a need to know basis with how to handle situations.” The mage shrugged simply. “Trust me, when the incident with Christopher and Marcos happened, man, the fallout was something else entirely.”

“What happened?’ Cordelia asked slowly. 

“Marcos is a relatively young Child of Fenrir, so his skills at the time weren’t as refined as they are now. And I’m sure you both understand that tattooing can be painful for those unprepared for it.” Joshua blinked slowly before he covered his snort, realizing what happened. “Yes. Marcos accidently turned because of the surprise feeling of the process.”

“Oh no!” Cordelia exclaimed and the mage laughed.

“Chris was a champ about it, though, he was actually excited to learn about the magic world. Apparently he had an encounter or two with Fae when he was a child ...” The mage chuckled, trailing off before sighing. “Anyways, with another unique situation, you two are fine.” Cordelia and Joshua looked at each other, warily hopeful. “Oh, before I forget, if you see Alistair when you two go back out into the main hall, tell the little bugger he’s not as smart as he thinks.” They looked at the mage in surprise. “You have no training in your magic to make an object, let alone an illusion to attempt to fool us.” Joshua blushed in a mild embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head. “So, any further questions?”

“Um…What is going to happen to Henry and Joey?” Cordelia asked quietly. The mage smiled softly.

“They’re going to be kept under watch for a bit…but they’ll be fine.” The mage said simply. “Ain’t the first time crap like this happened.”

“Even with Murray?” Joshua asked slowly and the mage groaned leaning onto the desk.

“ _Especially_ with Murray.” The mage groaned. “Dealing with the demon? Piece of cake, heck even a request from the men downstairs regarding him, but the moron with the magic? We haven’t had to wipe this much memories since that incident in Australia during ‘87.” Joshua raised an eyebrow as Cordelia looked nervously.

“Wipe memories?” She asked timidly.

“What happened in Australia?” Joshua asked slowly.

“Oh not your memories, just Murray’s.” The mage said absently, sighing. “We’ve decided that his memories from when he first joined Alistair’s “cult” onwards will be erased.”

“So he won’t remember killing Linda and Mrs. Ross?!” Joshua asked, fearing the worst. 

“Oh no, he’ll remember that; we’re not _that_ leanitent,” The room chilled slightly and Joshua tightened his grip on Cordelia. “He will, however, never be able to recall any magic spell or rituals he used or what lead him to _that_. He will have gaps and will live with the knowledge that he has done something horrid, but cannot and will _not_ be able to learn what it was.” The mage leaned on a hand. “Even if you were to tell him what he had done, his mind will not process the magic spells or rituals. I believe you kids this millennium say it as ‘it be gibberish’.” The mage shrugged. “And with that extra bit, even if he wanted to, Alistair would have better luck moving a wall with his bare hands.” The mage sighed bemusedly. “Anyways, best to get back to the others if you don’t have anymore questions.” The couple nodded and turned to leave. “Oh! Ms. Bell! Before I forget,” The woman turned back to the mage, confusion written clearly on her face. “Make sure your brother actually goes to a suit fitting sometime in the future. Last thing I’d want to see is his or your special day ruin cause the boy thought he could work his way through a cheap suit.” Cordelia’s face went neon red, realizing what the council member was implying and the two adults scurried out as quickly as they could. The mage watched the two scurried out with a smile on their face; at least that was one positive thing in relation to the people brought in by David and Selene.


	24. Chapter 24

So, Cordelia wasn’t going to have her memories wiped and she and Joshua weren’t going to be forced to break up. It was a weight off their shoulders to be certain. Cordelia could have cried she was so relieved. This had all left her so tired she just wanted to go home. But she and Joshua both wanted to stay a bit longer to see the fates of some of the ones they’d come there with.

Henry and Joey had to be fitted with some tracking bracelets so they could be watched for a bit. Joey got a bit of a verbal tongue-lashing from the mages fitting him with the bracelet, which he took with what amounted to the attitude of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Henry was also lectured for his impulsive and rash behavior, which he also took with a certain amount of shame and sheepishness. Antonio and Gethin were still awaiting their punishment, but it was likely they’d get something like magical jail or community service and be monitored for a set period of time. The last time Joshua and Cordelia had seen them, they’d been asleep in a waiting room, leaning on each other.

“You two should go home,” Henry said after he’d been fitted. “Joey and I are going to be here a little longer. They want to see if Esther’s kids have any powers.” There had been some talk about Isaac being an empath, mostly from Alistair, and Selene wanted to make sure that the powers weren’t anything that required too much supervision. Mostly because of Esther and her fierce protectiveness.

“Alright.” Joshua nodded. He fully planned to head back to Chris’ house and just sleep for a while. Maybe avoid his mother for a bit.

“I’ll see you later.” Henry smiled wearily, turning to leave.

“Keep Mr. Drew out of trouble!” Cordelia called out to him as he walked away.

“I’ll try!” Henry called back.

“Chris’ house?” Cordelia asked, hooking her arm around Joshua’s.

“Yeah.” Joshua let out a small laugh. “Maybe we can actually have some of Rosanna’s cooking when we get back.”

“Oh, that would be nice.” Cordelia sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

They started toward the door, a deep fatigue beginning to settle over them.

“Mr. Foster!” They both stopped at hearing Selene’s voice, turning to face her. Joshua was tensed, unsure what she wanted with them.

“I’m glad I caught you before you left.” She said, stopping in front of them.

“Can I help you?” Joshua asked.

“Would you be willing to come back here at a later date? We need to find someone to teach you how to harness your powers.”

Joshua tensed more, but Selene waved a hand to dispel his worries.

“No funny business,” she said. “We’re not going to try to control you. It’d just be better if you can learn how to make use of your gifts. You can decide what you want to do with them.”

“I…Alright,” Joshua said slowly.

“You have my number.” Selene nodded before walking away.

Joshua and Cordelia stood there for a moment or two longer. Cordelia squeezed Joshua’s arm comfortingly, then began to gently pull him toward the entrance. He let her do so.

“I didn’t think dating you would involve this much excitement.” She joked as they left the building.

“You’re not going to break up with me over this, are you?” Joshua asked, laughing as well. “It’d be kind of a shame to lose you after everything.”

“Of course not!” Cordelia gasped, slapping his arm. “I’ve come with you this far, I’m not leaving you now.” Joshua gave a small smile, pulling her closer to him. Cordelia rested her head on his shoulder, squeezing his hand gently.

“I’m sorry about all this.” His smile fell and he looked just as fatigued as she was.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Cordelia smiled softly, kissing his cheek. “It’s not like you knew all of this was going to happen.” Not to mention, she’d worked for Joey Drew for quite a few years. She was used to weird shit.

“I really would understand if you didn’t want to be with me anymore.” His voice went quiet.

“I’m not leaving you, Joshua,” Cordelia said, giving him an incredulous look. “I’ve made it this far and I’m not backing out now.” She kept staring at him, hoping he could feel her determination.

After a minute of this, he started to laugh. “Okay okay. I get it. I’m not getting rid of you that easy.”

“Exactly. Now, let’s get some food.”

.

Back in the Council building, Alistair was waiting outside the room where they were erasing Murray’s memory. Mrs. Hill and Stella were with him, Mrs. Hill pacing and Stella asleep in a chair. He couldn’t help but feel a tad nervous. This was technically going to be the first time Murray was meeting him. This was his chance to have a different relationship than the one he’d had before. A…healthier one. One where he led Murray down the right path, rather than the wrong one. He was going to be spending a lot of time with Murray, especially since Mrs. Hill had agreed to let him stay with them. He had to be a better person this time.

They were all startled when the door to the room opened and the mage exited with a dazed Murray in tow.

“Alright, he’s done.” They announced.

“Mom?” Murray slurred, looking around with unfocused eyes.

“Yes, it’s me.” Mrs. Hill took him in her arms.

“What did I do this time?” Murray asked, burrowing closer to her chest. “I…I did something bad, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.” She stroked his hair. “And you’re going to have to live with that.” Murray nodded, his eyes becoming clearer as the lingering magic wore off.

“Um.” Alistair stood, clearing his throat awkwardly. Murray turned to look at him, and there was no recognition in his eyes. Alistair’s heart ached at that. But it was for the best, he reminded himself. It was better that Murray not remember the monster he’d once been.

“Hello.” Murray smiled politely.

“Hello.” Alistair smiled back, sticking his hand out. “I’m Alistair Ainsley. I’m going to be staying with your family.”

“He’s serving a sentence too,” Stella mumbled, stirring a bit.

“Guess we’re in the same boat.” Murray laughed.

“Yeah, I guess we are.” Alistair laughed as well. “Maybe we can help each other out.”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea!” Mrs. Hill clapped her hands together. “You can keep each other from getting into trouble!” She stared pointedly at Alistair, the threat evident in that gaze.

“I’ll do my very best.” He said. He was going to be better this time. **Murray** was going to be better this time. He’d make sure of it.

“Well, thanks.” Murray gave him a big smile. “I really appreciate it.”

Alistair felt a flutter in his stomach. “You’re welcome.”

He hadn’t thought he’d end up in such a mundane position, but maybe it wasn’t so bad. Maybe…he’d be able to be happy.

“Come on, let’s get you all home.” Mrs. Hill said, rousing Stella. Together, they all headed back to the Hill household, their new lives about to begin.


End file.
